The clock strikes noon and the sky is overcast at Fenway Park. It is still hours before first pitch but fans are already wandering up and down Jersey Street hoping to catch a glimpse of the players making their way to the ballpark. Even with the absence of large crowds, there’s a certain buzz of nervous excitement as Red Sox and Yankee fans wait for the game to begin. Who will triumph in the weekend series and eventually win a coveted Wild Card spot? The New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox?

Vendors are setting up their stalls, pushing trolleys piled with of food that will disappear in just a few hours. The grills are fired up and the buns are laid out single file. For $14, fans can buy a 12oz beer and a Fenway Frank slathered in mustard or ketchup while they stand around in anxious anticipation volleying statistics back and forth.

“Sorry doll, I can’t talk right now. This is the busy time,” one food vendor says as he flips three sausages in a row without looking down.

Halfway down Jersey Street, the Official Red Sox Team Store staff are cutting open new boxes filled with Red Sox and Yankees merchandise. A few fans stroll in to try on shirts and inspect the glass displays filled with keychains and other knick-knacks.

The store manager, Tim Pettit, leans against the checkout counter wearing a Red Sox hat. He has held a managerial position here since 2016. Since his appointment, Pettit has witnessed “a lot of craziness,” three World Series’, and a number of Red Sox players come and go. When asked about his experience at the store, Pettit laughs and admits that perhaps his excitement at working in the baseball industry has dwindled over the years.

“Baseball is my living,” says Pettit. “At this point, I don’t know that I would have had the same excitement that I might have had when I was younger before I got into working in the industry, but I think with baseball, what you don’t have with other sports is that it’s an everyday affair.”

Despite his claims, Pettit’s love for the game is apparent. There’s a youthful quality to his tone as he explains how his personal life is robustly intertwined with baseball.

“I have three kids,” Pettit explains. “Their birthdays are: an opening day baby, an all-star game baby and an end-of-season baby. That’s just another rhythm of the season that baseball so much defines.”

The regular baseball season lasts for 26 ½ weeks which is about six months of the calendar year with each club playing 162 games. This year, the Red Sox have been scheduled to play just over 81 home games and fans are hoping for more if the team successfully secures a wild card spot. Once the official season is over, baseball enthusiasts eagerly await spring training.

“I think a lot of people really look at that baseball schedule almost more than any other sport,” Pettit insists. “Football may be more popular, but people really set their clock by the baseball schedule.”

This weekend, Pettit is expecting to see large sales from the Red Sox vs. Yankees home game series in spite of the Sox’s loss the day before. He looks around as the store is splashed with color as the Red Sox yellow jerseys, released earlier this year in honor of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, hang on the racks. The walls are covered in hats displaying the recognizable red ‘B’ and other novelty items like golf balls featuring the Red Sox circle logo.

“In terms of business, it’s going to be great!” says Pettit.  “I think people still know that every day is a different day. The Red Sox have shown this year that they can absolutely beat the Yankees – whether they do this weekend, we’re crossing our fingers!”