Boston — Rain washed out an opportunity for Randy Edsall to throw out the first pitch before the Red Sox-Yankees game on Tuesday.

That's a shame because he already had selected a pitch from his repertoire.

"I was going to throw a hard slider," Edsall quipped. "Probably 85 miles per hour."

Edsall, a big baseball fan, will be back at Fenway Park on Saturday, Nov. 18 to coach his UConn football team against Boston College. The game is part of the Fenway Gridiron Series, which will also pits Brown vs. Dartmouth on Nov. 10 and UMass vs. Maine on Nov. 11.

Coaches for all six participating schools were on hand on Tuesday to promote the event. The soggy weather forced the press conference inside.

Looking out at Fenway Park, Edsall tried to envision what the field and game conditions will look like on Nov. 18. Both teams will be on the same sideline.

"You sit here and you're trying to think some things through even though the game is not going to be until November," Edsall said. "But what a great venue and what a great opportunity for our players and the program to be able to come here and play in this stadium."

Fenway Park is familiar territory for Edsall, who tries to get here whenever his favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles, are visiting. His son, Corey, a tight ends coach on Edsall's staff, and wife, Eileen, are Red Sox fans, creating some interesting discussions at home.

Edsall also once served as a defensive backs coach for Tom Coughlin at Boston College from 1991-93.

So he can really appreciate historic Fenway Park and what it will mean for UConn to play a college football game there.

"The history, the tradition, what Fenway Park stands for is just incredible," Edsall said. "It will be fun."

The Fenway game was in the works before Edsall returned to UConn for his second stint in late December. When he heard about it, he fully embraced it, even though it meant giving up a home game at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

The benefits of playing a home game at Fenway Park far outweighed any negatives in Edsall's mind. Plus, the Huskies have control of a large percentage of the tickets, receiving 22,000 while Boston College will get 7,000. Another 10,000 will be available to the public.

The game also represents another building block in a relationship between two New England rivals that once experienced a deep freeze.

"I think it's good," Edsall said. "I'd love to play BC every year. ... You'd probably have sellouts at both places because of the proximity of the two schools. Go have some old backyard fun and go out and compete against each other."

BC coach Steve Addazio is in favor of continuing the rivalry and playing on a regular basis.

Of course, it depends on future scheduling and conference obligations.

"I'm really into the geographic games," Addazio said. "For us, when we have to play a nonconference game, I think it's awesome to have some regional fan interest. And so that's the motivator as far as I'm concerned.

"Back in the days of the Big East, you had these great geographical games, so I'm excited for that. I think it's good for college football in the Northeast."

Last year's meeting certainly wasn't any fun for the Huskies, who suffered a 30-0 loss at Boston College. It was the first meeting between the two programs since 2004 when Edsall was the head coach and both teams resided in the Big East Conference. BC leads the series 11-0-2.

While UConn has never played at Fenway, Boston College faced Notre Dame there in 2015.

Addazio, a native of Farmington and a Central Connecticut State University graduate, believes the Huskies have a bright future with Edsall back in charge.

"I think Randy is going to do great things at UConn," Addazio said. "He did a great job there the last time. ... He built it, he developed it and he brought them to prominence. As a kid growing up (in Connecticut), I always hoped that there would come a day that UConn would play major college football.

"I just find it so satisfying that UConn is playing Division I football. I wish they were in a Power Five conference. I'm a Connecticut guy. Other than the day we play Connecticut, I cheer for Connecticut, because football in Connecticut is really important to me. It was really good to me and important to me, so I'm a fan.

"I think the demolition of the Big East Conference was a shame, on all fronts.

Tickets for the Fenway Gridiron Series go on sale to the general public on May 15.

g.keefe@theday.com