FENWAY PARK
Tenant: Boston Red Sox (AL)
Opened: April 20, 1912
First night game: June 13, 1947
Surface: Bluegrass
Capacity: 33,577 for day games and 33,993 for night games (2001).
Attendance figures
Architect: Osborn Engineering (1912 & 1934)
Construction: James McLaughlin (1912); Coleman Brothers Corp. (1934)
Owner: Boston Red Sox
Cost: $650,000 (1912)
Location: Left field (N), Lansdowne Street, Boston & Albany Railroad tracks and Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90); third base (W), Brookline Avenue and Jersey Street (renamed Yawkey Way after BoSox owner in 1976), also bowling alley building attached to park; first base (S), Van Ness Street (built after park was done); right field (E), Ipswich Street and Fenway Garage building.
Dimensions: Left field: 324 (1921), 320.5 (1926), 320 (1930), 318 (1931), 320 (1933), 312 (1934), 315 (1936) [figure revised to 310 in 1995]; left-center: 379 (1934); deep left-center at flagpole: 388 (1934); flagpole removed from field of play (1970); center field: 488 (1922), 468 (1930), 388.67 (1934), 389.67 (1954), 390 (current); deepest corner, just right of center: 550 (1922), 593 (1931), 420 (1934) [Note: 593 is cited in 1931-1933 Bluebooks; this could be a misprint.] right-center, just right of deepest corner where the bullpen begins: 380 (1938), 383 (1955); right of right-center: 405 (1939), 382 (1940), 381 (1942), 380 (1943); right field: 313.5 (1921), 358.5 (1926), 358 (1930), 325 (1931), 358 (1933), 334 (1934), 332 (1936), 322 (1938), 332 (1939), 304 (1940), 302 (1942); backstop: 68 (1912), 60 (1934); foul territory: smallest in the majors.
Fences: Left field: 25 (wood, 1912), 37.17 (tin over wood over concrete lower section, 1934), 37.17 (hard plastic, 1976); left-field wall to center bleacher wall behind flagpole: 18 sloping to 17 (concrete, 1934), crash pad added from 18 inches to 6 feet on left and center field walls (1976); center field to bullpen fence: 8.75 (wood, 1940); right-center bullpen fence: 5.25 (wood, 1940); right-field wall and railing: bullpen 3.42 sloping to 5.37 at foul pole (steel, 1940); right-field belly: the low railing and wall curve out sharply from the 302 marker at the right-field foul pole into deep right field.
Fenway Park opened on April 20, 1912, the same day as Detroit’s Tiger Stadium and before any of the other existing big league parks. It held 35,000 fans then, and today it holds 34,218. The Red Sox fit 47,627 people into Fenway for a September 22, 1935, doubleheader against the New York Yankees. Fire laws in the 1940's ended that type of overcrowding and the biggest postwar crowd was 36,388 for a game against the Cleveland Indians in 1978.
Fenway's clubhouses are small and modest. The tunnels which lead to the dugouts are usually wet, and the floorboards creak. Like most of baseball’s other old parks, it's cramped and even a little bit uncomfortable. Those other old parks have disappeared, but Fenway is still there. Red Sox fans continue to crowd into Fenway's cozy confines, pushing the Red Sox average attendance to over 2.5 million into the 1990s. They’ve come to Fenway in great numbers ever since the park opened, back in the years when the Red Sox regularly appeared in the World Series. The Red Sox won the World Series at Fenway in the park’s first year and won it three more times by 1918, but they haven’t won it since. Some think the Red Sox were cursed when they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankess after the 1919 season.
They did win what was probably the most memorable game in World Series history, on October 21, 1975, when Carlton Fisk ended Game 6 against the Cincinnati Reds with a 12th-inning home run over the Green Monster just inside the left field foul pole. It would have been a dramatic shot in any park, but hitting it over the Green Monster made it that much better. It’s 37 feet tall, with a 23-foot screen above it and includes a manually operated scoreboard that displays the line score and scores of other American League games. In Morse code down the side of the scoreboard are the initials of Thomas A. Yawkey and Jean R. Yawkey, who owned the Red Sox from 1933-93. The Green Monster also features a ladder that is in play. The sign says the Green Monster is 310 feet from home plate. It's 304.779 feet, high according to one measurement or 308, according to another. It has been green only since 1947. Before that, Fenway’s left-field wall was covered with advertisements. The original 25-foot wall was made of wood, which burned along with the rest of the park in a January 5, 1934, fire. The second, 37-foot wall was tin over wooden railroad ties. The current hard plastic wall, also 37 feet high, was erected in 1976.
The bullpens were moved from fair territory to right field in 1940, which made the right-field fence closer and, consequently, helped Red Sox star Ted Williams hit more home runs. The Red Sox became the third-to-last major league team to play home night games when lights went up at Fenway on June 13, 1947. A message board was installed above the center-field bleachers in 1976. Private suites were added to the roof in 1983, and a glassed-in seating section called the 600 Club was built behind home plate in 1988. Even with all those changes, Fenway still looks very much as it did decades ago. For many years, the roof over the grandstand in right featured retired Red Sox uniform numbers in the order they were retired: 9, 4, 1, and 8, eerily reminding us of Sept. 4, 1918, the day before the Red Sox won their last World Series. However, the numbers have since been rearranged in numerical order and now include Carlton Fisk's number 27. The right-field stands are only 302 feet from home plate at the foul pole. That foul pole was once nicknamed "Pesky’s Pole," because Johnny Pesky hit it so many times for home runs. Although the roof over the grandstand in right seems to invite home runs, no one has ever hit one over it.
The Red Sox haven't always been the only tenants at Fenway. The AFL’s Boston Patriots played there from 1963-68 and the Boston Redskins (later the Washington Redskins) played there before that. The Boston Yanks and the Boston College and Boston University football teams played there, too. Fenway once hosted a World Series that did not include the Red Sox. The Boston Braves won the 1914 Series at Fenway because Braves Field was still under construction.
Tenant: Boston Red Sox (AL)
Opened: April 20, 1912
First night game: June 13, 1947
Surface: Bluegrass
Capacity: 33,577 for day games and 33,993 for night games (2001).
Attendance figures
Architect: Osborn Engineering (1912 & 1934)
Construction: James McLaughlin (1912); Coleman Brothers Corp. (1934)
Owner: Boston Red Sox
Cost: $650,000 (1912)
Location: Left field (N), Lansdowne Street, Boston & Albany Railroad tracks and Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90); third base (W), Brookline Avenue and Jersey Street (renamed Yawkey Way after BoSox owner in 1976), also bowling alley building attached to park; first base (S), Van Ness Street (built after park was done); right field (E), Ipswich Street and Fenway Garage building.
Dimensions: Left field: 324 (1921), 320.5 (1926), 320 (1930), 318 (1931), 320 (1933), 312 (1934), 315 (1936) [figure revised to 310 in 1995]; left-center: 379 (1934); deep left-center at flagpole: 388 (1934); flagpole removed from field of play (1970); center field: 488 (1922), 468 (1930), 388.67 (1934), 389.67 (1954), 390 (current); deepest corner, just right of center: 550 (1922), 593 (1931), 420 (1934) [Note: 593 is cited in 1931-1933 Bluebooks; this could be a misprint.] right-center, just right of deepest corner where the bullpen begins: 380 (1938), 383 (1955); right of right-center: 405 (1939), 382 (1940), 381 (1942), 380 (1943); right field: 313.5 (1921), 358.5 (1926), 358 (1930), 325 (1931), 358 (1933), 334 (1934), 332 (1936), 322 (1938), 332 (1939), 304 (1940), 302 (1942); backstop: 68 (1912), 60 (1934); foul territory: smallest in the majors.
Fences: Left field: 25 (wood, 1912), 37.17 (tin over wood over concrete lower section, 1934), 37.17 (hard plastic, 1976); left-field wall to center bleacher wall behind flagpole: 18 sloping to 17 (concrete, 1934), crash pad added from 18 inches to 6 feet on left and center field walls (1976); center field to bullpen fence: 8.75 (wood, 1940); right-center bullpen fence: 5.25 (wood, 1940); right-field wall and railing: bullpen 3.42 sloping to 5.37 at foul pole (steel, 1940); right-field belly: the low railing and wall curve out sharply from the 302 marker at the right-field foul pole into deep right field.
Fenway Park opened on April 20, 1912, the same day as Detroit’s Tiger Stadium and before any of the other existing big league parks. It held 35,000 fans then, and today it holds 34,218. The Red Sox fit 47,627 people into Fenway for a September 22, 1935, doubleheader against the New York Yankees. Fire laws in the 1940's ended that type of overcrowding and the biggest postwar crowd was 36,388 for a game against the Cleveland Indians in 1978.
Fenway's clubhouses are small and modest. The tunnels which lead to the dugouts are usually wet, and the floorboards creak. Like most of baseball’s other old parks, it's cramped and even a little bit uncomfortable. Those other old parks have disappeared, but Fenway is still there. Red Sox fans continue to crowd into Fenway's cozy confines, pushing the Red Sox average attendance to over 2.5 million into the 1990s. They’ve come to Fenway in great numbers ever since the park opened, back in the years when the Red Sox regularly appeared in the World Series. The Red Sox won the World Series at Fenway in the park’s first year and won it three more times by 1918, but they haven’t won it since. Some think the Red Sox were cursed when they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankess after the 1919 season.
They did win what was probably the most memorable game in World Series history, on October 21, 1975, when Carlton Fisk ended Game 6 against the Cincinnati Reds with a 12th-inning home run over the Green Monster just inside the left field foul pole. It would have been a dramatic shot in any park, but hitting it over the Green Monster made it that much better. It’s 37 feet tall, with a 23-foot screen above it and includes a manually operated scoreboard that displays the line score and scores of other American League games. In Morse code down the side of the scoreboard are the initials of Thomas A. Yawkey and Jean R. Yawkey, who owned the Red Sox from 1933-93. The Green Monster also features a ladder that is in play. The sign says the Green Monster is 310 feet from home plate. It's 304.779 feet, high according to one measurement or 308, according to another. It has been green only since 1947. Before that, Fenway’s left-field wall was covered with advertisements. The original 25-foot wall was made of wood, which burned along with the rest of the park in a January 5, 1934, fire. The second, 37-foot wall was tin over wooden railroad ties. The current hard plastic wall, also 37 feet high, was erected in 1976.
The bullpens were moved from fair territory to right field in 1940, which made the right-field fence closer and, consequently, helped Red Sox star Ted Williams hit more home runs. The Red Sox became the third-to-last major league team to play home night games when lights went up at Fenway on June 13, 1947. A message board was installed above the center-field bleachers in 1976. Private suites were added to the roof in 1983, and a glassed-in seating section called the 600 Club was built behind home plate in 1988. Even with all those changes, Fenway still looks very much as it did decades ago. For many years, the roof over the grandstand in right featured retired Red Sox uniform numbers in the order they were retired: 9, 4, 1, and 8, eerily reminding us of Sept. 4, 1918, the day before the Red Sox won their last World Series. However, the numbers have since been rearranged in numerical order and now include Carlton Fisk's number 27. The right-field stands are only 302 feet from home plate at the foul pole. That foul pole was once nicknamed "Pesky’s Pole," because Johnny Pesky hit it so many times for home runs. Although the roof over the grandstand in right seems to invite home runs, no one has ever hit one over it.
The Red Sox haven't always been the only tenants at Fenway. The AFL’s Boston Patriots played there from 1963-68 and the Boston Redskins (later the Washington Redskins) played there before that. The Boston Yanks and the Boston College and Boston University football teams played there, too. Fenway once hosted a World Series that did not include the Red Sox. The Boston Braves won the 1914 Series at Fenway because Braves Field was still under construction.
Jman see those people standing in front of the right field bull pen? Thats is the row I used to sit in as a kid. Back then the Sox played a lot of day games and usually only drew 6 to 8 thousand fans, so grabbing a seat was no problem. I use to be like 10 feet from the bullpen players. They always would joke around with young fans as long as we were not abusive.
wil.
wil.
I feel for you New Englander`s when it comes to those Red Sox...my gosh they had it right there again! Again!?!
They should be primed for another run in October...atleast NYY didn`t win it all!
I can`t wait til they don`t make post season, I`d LOVE to see the NYY not make the playoffs for 25 years LMAO...Yeah right!
PLAY BALL BABY!
They should be primed for another run in October...atleast NYY didn`t win it all!
I can`t wait til they don`t make post season, I`d LOVE to see the NYY not make the playoffs for 25 years LMAO...Yeah right!
PLAY BALL BABY!
wil- I enjoyed the Fenway Park post. I grew up in Western Mass and spent many fun evenings at Fenway. I can always remember taking the subway and getting off at Kenmore Square and the first thing I would look at was the Citgo sign and then the lights at the ball park. I enjoy visiting the place I grew up and try to go back in the summer so I can catch a Red Sox game with my brother and spend the day in Boston.
Unfortunately, Fenway Park has seen better days. The park is a dump. It's old and in poor condition. It's far too small. Ticket demand is incredible. The seating arrangement makes for very poor site lines from many of the seats and there's also a lot of obstructed view seats. The Red Sox need about a 60,000 seat stadium just to handle the ticket demand. The Sox aren't just Boston's team; they're New England's team.
Unfortunately, Fenway Park has seen better days. The park is a dump. It's old and in poor condition. It's far too small. Ticket demand is incredible. The seating arrangement makes for very poor site lines from many of the seats and there's also a lot of obstructed view seats. The Red Sox need about a 60,000 seat stadium just to handle the ticket demand. The Sox aren't just Boston's team; they're New England's team.
SocerBob - Yeah the old ball yard has definitely seen better days. There seems to be a tug of war going on between the people who cant bear to tear down Fenway, and the we need a new modern facility crowd. The way the Red Sox keep adding new features, it may be a while before we see a new Fenway.
wil.
wil.
