Canadian native having a ball hobnobbing with legendary Red Sox players at Polar Park

WORCESTER - Canadian native Guy Viens is not only a lifelong Red Sox fan, he has also made the trip from Quebec to Polar Park to see Red Sox legends Jim Rice and Wade Boggs and he plans to do it again at the end of the month to see Bill "Spaceman" Lee.

Despite living in Coaticook, Quebec, Viens has made the long trek twice from his home to Polar Park, the home of the Worcester Red Sox, with another ahead.

The 66-year-old retired food delivery driver, who proudly boasts that he’s eight years sober and credits his sobriety for having the time of his life, is also a big Boston Red Sox fan and now a big WooSox fan.

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In fact, Viens and Mario St.-Cyr, his childhood friend from Canada, whose mother once lived on Bailey Avenue in Worcester, drove down to Worcester to meet Rice and Boggs. He’ll be driving down to Worcester with his friend again on Aug. 31 to meet Lee. Viens drives to his friend's home in Manchester, New Hampshire, a three-hour drive, and then his friend drives the rest of the way, roughly an additional hour.

Viens said his love for the Red Sox started in his youth when visiting his sister who lives in the States.

“When I was a kid, my oldest sister, Margaret, was living in Berlin, New Hampshire. During the summer, I used to go to Berlin with my nephews and my niece,” Viens said. “I could see the Red Sox on TV. And every place we go, they had Red Sox merchandise in the stores. It was amazing and I was so crazy about it. I had a baseball bat with Boston Red Sox printed on it and I kept it for many years.”

When he came back home to Canada, Viens was disappointed he couldn’t watch the Red Sox games on Canadian TV, but his love for the Red Sox continued to grow.

“I always followed the Red Sox,” Viens said. “The Red Sox were always on my mind. I always checked to see what they were doing.”

Viens said his favorite Red Sox player of all time is Carl Yastrzemski.

“I almost cried when Yaz retired,” Viens said. “He was one hell of a player.”

In addition to Yastrzemski, Viens effortless rattles off Red Sox players that he remembers from his youth, including Tony Conigliaro, Reggie Smith, Bob Montgomery and others.

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Brother a Dodgers fan

Viens wasn’t the only baseball fan his family. His brother, Romeo, loved the game also but rooted for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“We were always arguing about baseball. He wasn’t watching the American League. He would only watch the National League for the Dodgers,” Viens said. “But we had a good time together before he died because the Red Sox and the Dodgers played against each other.”

Viens fondly recalls meeting Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda before a Montreal Expos game at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. With Lasorda’s book in hand, Viens got him to sign it and gave the book to his brother.

“My brother was so happy,” Viens recalled. “He bought the beers for all the game.”

On July 27, Viens and his childhood buddy drove to Worcester to meet Red Sox Hall of Famer Rice. This was the first time Viens ever been to Polar Park but, he points out, not the last.

“I was waiting and I was so nervous, just like a little kid,” Viens said. “Unbelievable.”

Viens, who was wearing a T-shirt with an picture of Rice on it, said it was a thrill of a lifetime meeting the legendary player.

“He talked to me like he knows me for a long time. We laughed and we laughed. And asked someone to take a picture. He said, ‘Lift up your posture a little bit and your chest. We’re going to have a nice picture. Are you ready?' I said, “Mr. Rice, I’ve been ready for almost 30 years for that picture. Of course, I’m ready.’ ”

Despite heavy rains and the scheduled WooSox game eventually being postponed, Viens returned to Polar Park last Thursday to meet Boggs, who signed his white baseball cap.

“Oh, my God, Wade Boggs,” Viens said. “He was a great player. He hit the ball like hell. He was really nice too when I met him.”

And, on Aug. 31, Viens is planning to come back to Polar Park to meet legendary southpaw Lee.

Before a game in Worcester, Viens also met WooSox hitting coach and former Red Sox player Rich Gedman, who declared “smoked meat sandwiches” as the best thing in Quebec.

“He signed the ball and said to me, ‘It was a pleasure to talk to you,’ ” Viens said of Gedman. “Just like that.”

Viens, who fondly recalls taking a photo and getting it signed by Red Sox manager Alex Cora in Jupiter, Florida, has nothing but praise for Polar Park.

“Oh my God! It’s the nicest park I have ever seen with all the rings and baseballs outside the park,” Viens said. “You can take good pictures. And everybody’s working over there. They’re really, really something. Everybody’s very, very nice.”

Like many Red Sox fans, Viens said his fondest memory of the Red Sox in the last 20 years is seeing David Ortiz’s walk-off two-run homer against the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the ALCS series and helping the Red Sox reverse the Curse of the Bambino, all the way to a long overdue World Series win.

“I was crying when they made the greatest comeback against the Yankees. That was the cherry on the sundae, let me tell you,” Viens said. “All my friends were laughing at me. ‘Oh, you see the Red Sox? They’re going to be swept away by the Yankees.’ I said, ‘Wait, ‘It ain’t over till it’s over.’ And, they did it. Oh, my God!”

And, like any true Red Sox fan, Viens despises the Yankees.

“I got nothing from the Yankees,” Viens said. “But I really like the New York Mets.”

Before you think Viens is a Boston sports fan through and through, Viens also loves hockey but roots for the Bruins' dreaded rival the Montreal Canadiens. But he has seen the Bruins play at the old and new Garden and met Cam Neely and Ray Bourque on one occasion.

“Baseball is my favorite game and I don’t think it’s going to change,” Viens said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Canadian native avid fan of Boston Red Sox and Worcester Red Sox