Red Sox fans line up for photo-ops with World Series trophies

Whether they grew up loving Big Papi and Manny or idolized "The Splendid Splinter" or "Yaz," die-hard Red Sox fans of all ages turned out in droves yesterday to get close to the team's two most recent World Series trophies.

Fans lined up at The Chateau to get their pictures snapped with the Series trophies from 2004 and 2007. The trophies are being ushered throughout the commonwealth on the Championship Tour, a joint effort between the Red Sox and the Massachusetts State Lottery.

Look, but don't touch, was all that Red Sox representatives on hand asked of those who came out and posed with the trophies.

Don Fournier made the 40-minute trek from Nashua, N.H., to see the trophies. A lifelong Sox fan, he playfully pretended to hug the championship hardware.

"I was hoping I could touch it," he said.

Fred Colman, who lives in Waltham, said he used to sell peanuts and hot dogs at Fenway Park as a kid. He and his wife, Jan, who both had their pictures taken with the trophies, said as former long-suffering fans there was a time they weren't sure the Sox would win one championship, much less two.

Jan joked she told their grandson "Don't get too excited now," about the Sox recent success.

Dan Rosenfeld, spokesman for the State Lottery, said yesterday that the Championship Tour includes stops in about 40 cities or towns throughout the state. He said that the locations where the trophies are shown at each stop are chosen because they have adequate parking and can be easily accessed.

Rosenfeld said the tour comes as the State Lottery is offering a new limited edition World Series Red Sox Instant Ticket. The $20 ticket features a grand prize of $10 million, Red Sox game tickets and unique memorabilia.

Jeanne Barghout, who works in the State Lottery's marketing department, was handing out free Red Sox T-shirts and foam baseballs to those standing in line yesterday. Throughout the tour, she said older Sox fans have gotten emotional while in the presence of the trophies. Barghout said at a recent stop that senior citizens who showed up at The Chateau in Andover broke down in tears, just happy that they lived to see the Sox win it all.

"It's very uplifting for people," she said.

Gabriel Aufiero, who lives in Newton, was at a Rotary Club meeting at The Chateau in Waltham when he saw the trophies and saw the opportunity to grab a picture.

"I always believed they would eventually win, but I'm more optimistic than the typical Red Sox fan," Aufiero said.

Alyse Crane and her daughter came down from Lexington to get a glimpse of the trophies. She heard about the trophies' arrival in Waltham through a friend who got to see the 2004 World Series trophy on a tour stop that year.

"Hopefully, we'll add more to the two (trophies)," Crane said.

Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.