Fenway Park is a baseball park near
Kenmore SquareKenmore Square is a square in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, consisting of the intersection of several main avenues as well as several other cross streets, and Kenmore Station, an MBTA subway stop. Kenmore Square is close to or abuts Boston University, Fenway Park, and Lansdowne Street, a...
in
BostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the
Boston Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
stadiumA modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
currently in use. It is one of two "classic" ballparks still in use, the other being Chicago's
Wrigley FieldWrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
. Considered to be one of the best-known sports venues in the world, it has been the oldest venue used by a professional sports team in the United States since the 1991 demolition of
Comiskey ParkComiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games...
in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Because of the ballpark's age and constrained location in the dense Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood, the park has had many renovations and additions over the years not initially envisioned, resulting in unique, quirky features, including "The Triangle," "
Pesky's PolePesky's Pole, commonly referred to as The Pesky Pole, is the nickname for the right field foul pole at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. It is named after Johnny Pesky, who played second base, shortstop and third base for the Red Sox from 1942 to 1952, except for 1943-45 during World War II....
", and most notably the famous
Green MonsterThe Green Monster is a popular nickname for the thirty-seven foot , two-inch high left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team...
in left field. Dedicated Red Sox fans have sold out every Red Sox home game since May 15, 2003; in 2008, the park sold out its 456th consecutive Red Sox game, breaking a Major League Baseball record. Fans who attended this game received gifts to celebrate this accomplishment. As of March 30, 2011, the Red Sox have had 631 consecutive sellouts, which is easily the best in Major League Baseball history. The sellout streak is aided by the Red Sox's fan base as well as the fact that, as of 2011, Fenway Park has the
lowest maximum capacity of any MLB stadium; it is only one of two MLB ballparks (
PNC ParkPNC Park is a baseball park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. It opened during the 2001 Major League Baseball season, after the controlled implosion of the Pirates' previous home, Three Rivers Stadium...
in Pittsburgh being the other) that cannot accommodate at least 40,000 spectators.
Besides baseball, Fenway Park has been the site of many other sporting and cultural events, including professional football games for the
Boston RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
and the
Boston PatriotsThe New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
, concerts, soccer and hockey games, political and religious campaigns.
2012 will mark Fenway Park's centennial, with the Red Sox making plans (including a distinctive commemorative logo just as they did for Fenway's 75th and 90th birthdays) for the celebration, though most have not yet been announced.
History
The Red Sox moved to Fenway Park from the old Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds. In 1911, owner
John I. TaylorJohn Irving Taylor owned the Boston Red Sox from 1904 until 1911. He was the son of General Charles H. Taylor, publisher of the Boston Globe. He purchased the team from Henry Killilea on April 19, 1904, with his father Charles serving as a minority owner. In September 1911, the Taylors sold half...
bought the land bordered by Brookline Avenue, Jersey Street, Van Ness Street and Lansdowne Street and developed it into a larger baseball stadium.
Taylor claimed the name Fenway Park came from its location in the
Fenway neighborhoodFenway–Kenmore is an official neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. While it is considered one neighborhood for administrative purposes, it is composed of numerous distinct sections and in casual conversation are almost always referred to as "Fenway," "Kenmore Square," or "Kenmore."...
of Boston, which was partially created late in the nineteenth century by filling in marshland or "
fenA fen is a type of wetland fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. Fens are characterised by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients...
s", to create the
Back Bay FensThe Back Bay Fens, most commonly called simply The Fens, is a parkland and urban wild in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to serve as a link in the Emerald Necklace park system, the Fens gives its name to the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood, and thereby to...
urban park. However, given that Taylor's family also owned the Fenway Realty Company, the promotional value of the naming at the time has been cited as well. Like many classic ballparks, Fenway Park was constructed on an asymmetrical block, with consequent asymmetry in its field dimensions.
Attendance at the park has not always been great, and reached its low point late in the 1965 season with two games having paid attendance under 500 spectators. Its fortunes have risen since the Red Sox' 1967 "Impossible Dream" season, and on September 8, 2008 with a game versus the
Tampa Bay RaysThe Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in , the club has played at Tropicana Field...
, Fenway Park broke the all-time Major League record with its 456th consecutive sellout, surpassing the previous record held by Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland, Ohio. On Wednesday, June 17, 2009 the park celebrated its 500th consecutive Red Sox sellout. According to WBZ-TV, the team joined three NBA teams which achieved 500 consecutive home sellouts; one of those teams was the
Larry BirdLarry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
-era
Boston CelticsThe Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
of the 1980s. Former pitcher
Bill LeeWilliam Francis Lee III , nicknamed "Spaceman", is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Boston Red Sox from - and the Montreal Expos from -...
has called Fenway Park "a
shrineA shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
". Today, the park is considered to be one of the most well-known sports venues in the world.
Changes to Fenway Park
Some of the changes include:
- In 1934, the scoreboard was added, with what was then considered high technology lights representing balls and strikes. The score is still updated by hand today from behind the wall (except the National League scores which need to be changed out on the field).
- In 1946, upper deck seats were installed; Fenway Park is essentially the first double-tiered ballpark in Boston since the South End Grounds
South End Grounds refers to any one of three baseball parks on one site in Boston, Massachusetts. They were home to the Boston club in the National Association and the National League from 1871 to 1914....
of the 1880s.
- In 1947, arc light
Arc Light is the debut novel by Eric L. Harry, a techno-thriller about limited nuclear war published in 1994 and written in 1991-2.As China and Russia clash in Siberia in June 1999, nuclear missiles strike the United States. The U.S. retaliates against Russia, and World War III begins...
s were installed at Fenway Park. The Boston Red Sox were the third-to-last team out of 16 major league teams to have lights in their home park.
- In 1976, metric distances were added to the conventionally-stated distances because it was thought that the United States would adopt the metric system
Metrication is the process of introducing the International System of Units , a metric system of measurement, to replace the historical or customary units of measurement of a country or region...
. Today, few American ballparks have metric distances posted. Fenway Park retained the metric measurement until mid-season 2002, when they were painted over. Also, Fenway's first message board was added over the center field bleachers.
- In 1999 the auxiliary press boxes were added on top of the roof boxes along the first and third base sides.
- In 2000, a new video display from Daktronics
Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video board, scoreboards, digital billboards and related products. The company is best known for its electronic LED displays...
, measuring 23 feet (7 m) high by 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, was added in center field.
- Before the 2003 season, seats were added to the Green Monster
The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the thirty-seven foot , two-inch high left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team...
.
- Before the 2004 season, seats were added to the right field roof, above the grandstand, called the Budweiser
Budweiser is a 5.0% abv American-style lager introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the world...
Right Field Roof.
- Before the 2005 season, a new drainage system was installed on the field. The system, along with new sod, was installed to prevent the field from becoming too wet to play on during light to medium rains, and to reduce the time needed to dry the field adequately. Work on the field was completed only weeks prior to spring training.
- After the 2005 season, the Red Sox completed their plans for the .406 Club area, which became the EMC Club. The construction resulted in 852 pavilion club seats, 745 pavilion box seats, and approximately 200 pavilion standing-room seats along the left- and right-field lines, resulting in approximately 1300 additional seats.
- The winter of renovations focused on renovating the luxury boxes as well as adding a new food concourse area and renovated bathrooms behind the third base grandstands.
- Before the 2008 season, the temporary luxury boxes installed for the 1999 All-Star Game were removed and permanent ones were added to the State Street Pavilion level. Seats were also added down the left field line called the Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
Party-Deck. 100 standing-room tickets were also added to the pavilion increasing capacity to just under 40,000 people. The Coke bottles, installed in 1997, were also removed to return the light towers to their original state. All bleacher seats were replaced and the seating bowl water-proofed as well.
- Before the 2009 season, the right field roofbox seating area was renovated and expanded and the original 1912 seating bowl was water-proofed and seats replaced.
- Before the 2010 season, the left field lower seating bowl was water-proofed and seats replaced. This was done in two phases to allow for the hosting of the NHL Winter Classic.
- Before the 2011 season, three new scoreboards beyond right-center field were installed: a 38-by-100-foot scoreboard in right-center field, a 17-by-100-foot video screen in center field, a 16-by-30-foot video board in right field, along with a new video control room. The Gate D concourse has undergone a complete remodel with new concession stands and improved pedestrian flow. The wooden grandstand seats were all removed to allow the completion of the waterproofing of the seating bowl and completely refurbished upon re-installation. The Red Sox originally planned to expand the bullpens to provide more room for pitchers to warm up, but that part of the renovation project was scrapped.
Proposed (then canceled) new Fenway Park
On May 15, 1999 then Red Sox CEO John Harrington announced plans for a new Fenway Park to be built near the existing structure. It was to have the same dimensions on the field, include a new
Green MonsterThe Green Monster is a popular nickname for the thirty-seven foot , two-inch high left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team...
, basically be a replica of the current park, but be modernized to replace some of the old features of Fenway Park. Some sections of the old Fenway Park were to be preserved (mainly the original Green Monster and the third base side of the park) as part of the overall new layout. Most of the old park was to be demolished to make room for new development, with one section remaining to house a baseball museum and public park. This was a highly controversial idea, as most Boston area sports fans consider Fenway Park to be sacred ground, and demolishing the old park would have caused a significant outcry (as did the closure and later demolition of Tiger Stadium that same year after decades of grassroots efforts to try to save it). Several groups sprang up, such as "Save Fenway Park" to try to block the move.
All involved parties wrangled for several years on the details of the new stadium. One plan even involved building a "Sports Megaplex" in South Boston, where a new Fenway would be located next to a new stadium for the
New England PatriotsThe New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
. The Patriots ultimately built a
new stadiumGillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Foxborough, Massachusetts, 21 miles southwest of downtown Boston and from downtown Providence, Rhode Island. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for the New England Patriots football team and the New England Revolution...
in Foxborough, and that plan was abandoned. Even after several more rounds of deliberations, the Red Sox could not reach an agreement with the city of Boston for a new stadium. In 2005, the Red Sox ownership group announced that the team would stay at Fenway Park indefinitely. After finishing 10 years of improvements to Fenway, spending $285 million to renovate, improve, rebuild the ballpark, in 2011 team president Larry Lucchino stated in an interview that all renovations are complete. At the same time, he said that engineers have told the team that the structure has 40–50 years of life remaining and that
there is nothing in the plans (for a new ballpark).
Seating Capacity
- 35,000 (1912–1946)
- 35,500 (1947–1948)
- 35,200 (1949–1952)
- 34,824 (1953–1957)
- 34,819 (1958–1959)
- 33,368 (1960)
- 33,357 (1961–1964)
- 33,524 (1965–1967)
- 33,375 (1968–1970)
- 33,379 (1971–1975)
- 33,437 (1976)
- 33,513 (1977–1978)
- 33,538 (1979–1980)
- 33,536 (1981–1982)
- 33,465 (1983–1984)
- 33,583 (1985–1988)
- 34,182 (1989–1990)
- 34,171 (1991)
- 33,925 (1992)
- 34,218 (1993–1994)
- 33,455 (day, 1995–2000); 33,871 (night, 1995–2000)
- 33,577 (day, 2001–2002); 33,993 (night, 2001–2002)
- 34,482 (day, 2003); 34,898 (night, 2003)
- 34,679 (day, 2004–2005); 35,095 (night, 2004–2005)
- 35,692 (day, 2006); 36,108 (night, 2006)
- 36,109 (day, 2007); 36,525 (night, 2007)
- 36,945 (day, 2008); 37,373 (night, 2008)
- 36,984 (day, 2009); 37,400 (night, 2009)
- 36,986 (day, 2010); 37,402 (night, 2010)
- 37,065 (day, 2011–present); 37,493 (night, 2011–present)
Features
Its location in the Kenmore Square area includes many buildings of similar height and architecture, causing it to blend in well with its surroundings. This results in the park appearing smaller and less imposing than other major outdoor sports venues in the country. When pitcher
Roger ClemensWilliam Roger Clemens , nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for four different teams over...
arrived in Boston for the first time in 1984, he took a taxi from Logan Airport and was sure the driver had misunderstood his directions when he announced their arrival at the park. Clemens recalled telling the driver "No, Fenway Park, it's a baseball stadium ... this is a warehouse." Only when the driver told Clemens to look up and he saw the light towers did he realize he was in the right place.
Fenway Park is one of the two remaining classic parks still in use in major league baseball (the other being
Wrigley FieldWrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
), and both have a significant number of obstructed view seats, due to pillars supporting the upper deck. These are sold as such, and are a reminder of the architectural limitations of older ballparks.
As discussed by
George WillGeorge Frederick Will is an American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winner best known for his conservative commentary on politics...
in
Men at Work (MacMillan, 1990), Fenway Park is a "hitters' ballpark", with its short right-field fence (302 feet), narrow foul ground, and generally closer-than-normal outfield fences. By Rule 1.04, Note(a), all parks built after 1958 have been required to have foul lines at least 325 feet (99.1 m) long and a center-field fence at least 400 feet (121.9 m) from home plate. Regarding the narrow foul territory, Will writes (p. 175):
The narrow foul territory in Fenway Park probably adds 5 to 7 points onto batting averageBatting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
s. Since World War II, the Red Sox have had 18 batting champions (through 1989)... Five to 7 points are a lot, given that there may be only a 15- or 20-point spread between a good hitting team and a poor hitting team.
Some observers might feel that these unique aspects of Fenway give the Red Sox an advantage over their opponents, given that the Red Sox hitters play 81 games at the home stadium, while each opponent plays only a handful (9 for AL East teams, 6 for some AL teams, and only 3 for other AL teams and the NL teams which play at Fenway for interleague games). Will does not share this view (p. 117). Will's book pre-dates the smaller retro ballparks and the home run barrage that began in the early/mid-1990s, as well as the Red Sox World Series wins of 2004 and 2007.
Historically, Fenway Park has been decidedly unfriendly to left-handed pitchers,
Babe RuthGeorge Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
being one of the few southpaw exceptions. Ruth started his career as a pitcher (mostly during the "
dead-ball eraThe dead-ball era is a baseball term used to describe the period between 1900 and the emergence of Babe Ruth as a power hitter in 1919. In 1919, Ruth hit a then league record 29 home runs, a spectacular feat at that time.This era was characterized by low-scoring games and a lack of home runs...
"), and had a career record of 94 wins, 46 losses (.671 winning percentage). Ruth also set a
World SeriesThe World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
record by pitching 29⅔ scoreless innings, a record that lasted until broken by
Whitey FordEdward Charles "Whitey" Ford is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who spent his entire 18-year career with the New York Yankees. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.-Early life and career:...
of the
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
in 1961.
Fenway Park had the smallest seating capacity in the major leagues for a number of years, but that is no longer the case. A number of the classic ballparks had seating capacities under 40,000, and some were smaller than Fenway. Montreal's
Jarry ParkJarry Park Stadium is a former baseball stadium in Montreal which served as home to the Montreal Expos, Major League Baseball's first Canadian franchise, from 1969–1976. It served as a temporary home until the domed Olympic Stadium was finished and made available to the Expos...
was smallest of all the modern ballparks, at about 28,000. At the time of Jarry Park's closing in 1977, the other old ballparks were gone, and Fenway's capacity was listed (according to
Sporting News Baseball Guides) at 33,513, making it the smallest in the majors at that point. Fenway began to grow incrementally over the next three decades, as pockets of seating areas were added from time to time.
Before the 2008 season, Fenway Park's capacity was increased to 39,928, where it remains following additional renovations for the 2009 season rendering Fenway as the fourth smallest, behind the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum,
Tropicana FieldTropicana Field is a domed stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, which has been the home of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays since the team's inaugural season in 1998, when they were the Devil Rays. It has also served as the host stadium for the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, an NCAA-sanctioned college...
and
PNC ParkPNC Park is a baseball park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. It opened during the 2001 Major League Baseball season, after the controlled implosion of the Pirates' previous home, Three Rivers Stadium...
. Renovations prior to the 2009 season now allow the Sox to sell roughly 350 more tickets each game, though the official capacity has not increased.
There have previously been proposals to increase the
seating capacitySeating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
to as much as 45,000 through the expansion of the upper decks, while others (notably former team owners, the
JRY TrustAfter the death of Jean Yawkey in 1992, her interest in the Boston Red Sox passed into the JRY Corporation, later renamed the JRY Trust, headed by John Harrington, who was also CEO of the team. The trust's interest was sold to John Henry and his group of investors in 2002....
) have called for razing the historic ballpark entirely and building a similar, but larger and more modern, scalable facility nearby. These proposals are now effectively moot as a result of the alternative modernization plan undertaken by the current ownership.
It would be fairly simple to completely replace the upper deck with a modern multi-level structure similar to today's retro-modern ballparks; the upper deck was never a part of the original 1912 structure, meaning that it has far less historic value, and replacing just the upper deck could drastically modernize the stadium. The proposed replacement park (see above) called for a large scoreboard atop the Green Monster. Doing so in the current ballpark could allow the right field seats to be expanded.
The Green Monster
The Green Monster is the nickname of the thirty-seven-foot, two-inch (11.3 m) left field wall in the park. Only 310–315 feet to home plate, it is a popular target for right-handed hitters.
Part of the original ballpark construction of 1912, the wall is made of wood, but was covered in tin and concrete in 1934 when the scoreboard was added. The wall was covered in hard plastic in 1976. The
scoreboardA scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game or match. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used a mechanical clock and numeral cards to...
is still manually updated throughout the game today. Despite the name, the Green Monster was not painted green until 1947; before that it was covered with
adsADS or Ads may refer to:In computing:* Advanced Design System, an EDA tool from Agilent EEsof EDA* Advantage Database Server, a Relational Database Management System* Alternate data stream, a filesystem fork in Microsoft NTFS...
. The
Monster designation is relatively new. For most of its history it was simply called
the wall. In recent years, terrace-style seating has been added on top of the wall.
"The Triangle"
"The Triangle" is a region of center field where the walls form a triangle whose far corner is 420 feet (128 m) from home plate. That deep right-center point is conventionally given as the center field distance. True center is unmarked, 390 feet (118.9 m) from home plate, to the left of "The Triangle" when viewed from home plate.
There was once a smaller "triangle" at the left end of the bleachers in center field, posted as 388 feet (118.3 m). The end of the bleachers form a right angle with the
Green MonsterThe Green Monster is a popular nickname for the thirty-seven foot , two-inch high left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team...
and the flagpole stands within that little triangle. That is not the true power alley, but deep left-center. The true power alley distance is not posted. The foul line intersects with the Green Monster at nearly a right angle, so the power alley could be estimated at 336 feet (102.4 m), assuming the power alley is 22.5 degrees away from the foul line as measured from home plate.
"Williamsburg"
"Williamsburg" was the name, invented by sportswriters, for the bullpen area built in front of the right-center field bleachers in 1940. It was built there primarily for the benefit of
Ted WilliamsTheodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
, to enable him and other left-handed batters to hit more
home runIn baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s, since it was 23 feet (7 m) closer than the bleacher wall. Ironically fewer than three dozen of Williams' home runs would end up falling into the bullpen area.
"The Belly" is the sweeping curve of the box-seat railing from the right end of "Williamsburg" around to the right field corner. The box seats were added when the bullpens were built in 1940. The right field line distance from the 1934 remodeling was reduced by some 30 feet (9.1 m).
The Lone Red Seat
The lone red seat in the right field bleachers (Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21) signifies the longest home run ever hit at Fenway. The
Ted WilliamsTheodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
hit was officially measured at 502 feet (153 m)—well beyond "Williamsburg". According to Hit Tracker Online, the ball, if unobstructed, would have flown 520 to 535 feet.
The ball landed on Joseph A. Boucher, penetrating his large straw hat and hitting him in the head. A confounded Boucher was later quoted as saying,
No other player at Fenway Park has ever hit the seat since, although on June 23, 2001
Manny RamírezManuel "Manny" Arístides Ramírez Onelcida is a retired Dominican-American professional baseball outfielder. He was recognized for great batting skill and power, a nine-time Silver Slugger and one of 25 players to hit 500 career home runs. Ramirez's 21 grand slams are third all-time, and his 28...
hit two home runs; one estimated at 463 feet (141.1 m) and another one with an official estimate of 501 feet (152.7 m). The latter blast struck a light tower above the Green Monster denying it a true landing point, to which the official estimate deferred to Williams' record placing Ramirez's home run exactly one foot short.
As noted in the 2007 book
The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home RunsThe Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs is a 432-page non-fiction book by Bill Jenkinson published by Carroll & Graf Publishers in March 2007. As of December 2007, its first printing had sold over 10,000 copies....
, researcher Bill Jenkinson found evidence that on May 25, 1926,
Babe RuthGeorge Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
hit one in the pre-1934 bleacher configuration which landed five rows from the top in right field, an estimated 545 feet (166.1 m) from home plate. Ruth also hit several other "Ruthian" blasts at Fenway that landed across the street behind straightaway center field, estimated at 500 feet (152.4 m).
Foul poles
Pesky's PolePesky's Pole, commonly referred to as The Pesky Pole, is the nickname for the right field foul pole at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. It is named after Johnny Pesky, who played second base, shortstop and third base for the Red Sox from 1942 to 1952, except for 1943-45 during World War II....
is the name for the pole on the right field foul line, which stands a mere 302 feet (92 m) from home plate, the shortest porch (left or right field) in Major League Baseball. Oddly, this distance has never been posted on the foul pole. Despite the short wall, home runs in this area are relatively rare, since the fence curves away from the foul pole sharply. For comparison's sake, the much larger
"Old" Comiskey ParkComiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games...
in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
had several dozen home runs hit over its roof, yet no one has ever hit one over Fenway's much shorter right field roof. The pole was named after
Johnny PeskyJohn Michael Pesky , nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was a Major League Baseball shortstop, third baseman, and manager. During a 10-year career, he played in 1942 and from 1946-1954 for three different teams. He missed all of the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons while serving in World War...
, a light-hitting shortstop and long-time
coachIn baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...
for the Red Sox, who hit some of his six home runs at Fenway Park around the pole but never off the pole. Pesky and the Red Sox give credit to pitcher
Mel ParnellMelvin Lloyd Parnell is a former Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher.Parnell spent his entire ten-year career with the Boston Red Sox , compiling a 123-75 record with 732 strikeouts, a 3.50 earned run average, 113 complete games, 20 shutouts, and 1752.2 innings pitched in 289 games...
for coining the name. The most notable for Pesky is a two-run homer in the eighth inning of the 1946 Opening Day game to win the game (in his career, Pesky hit 17 home runs). In similar fashion,
Mark BellhornMark Christian Bellhorn is a Major League Baseball second baseman who is currently a free agent. He is a switch-hitter and throws right-handed. He stands 6-1 and weighs 205 lbs.-Personal life:...
hit what proved to be the game-winning home run off of
Julián TavárezJulián Tavárez Carmen is a former Major League Baseball pitcher.-Minor leagues :...
, in Game 1 of the
2004 World SeriesThe 2004 World Series was the Major League Baseball championship series for the 2004 season. It was the 100th World Series and featured the American League champions, the Boston Red Sox, against the National League champions, the St. Louis Cardinals...
off that pole's screen.
On September 27, 2006, on Pesky's 87th birthday, the Red Sox organization officially dedicated the right field foul pole as
Pesky's Pole with a commemorative plaque placed at its base.
In a ceremony before the Red Sox's 2005
interleagueInterleague play is the term used to describe regular season Major League Baseball games played between teams in different leagues, introduced in . Before the 1997 season, teams in the American League and National League did not meet during the regular season...
game against the
Cincinnati RedsThe Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
, the pole on the left field foul line atop the
Green MonsterThe Green Monster is a popular nickname for the thirty-seven foot , two-inch high left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team...
was named Fisk Foul Pole, in honor of
Carlton FiskCarlton Ernest Fisk , nicknamed "Pudge" or "The Commander", is a former Major League Baseball catcher. During a 24-year baseball career, he played for both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox .Fisk was known by the nickname "Pudge" due to his 6'2", 220 lb frame...
. Fisk provided one of baseball's most enduring moments in Game 6 of the
1975 World SeriesThe 1975 World Series was played between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds . It has been ranked by ESPN as the second-greatest World Series ever played...
against the Reds. Facing Reds right-hander Pat Darcy in the 12th inning with the score tied at 6, Fisk hit a long fly ball down the left field line. It appeared to be heading foul, but Fisk, after initially appearing unsure of whether or not to continue running to first base, famously jumped and waved his arms to the right as if to somehow direct the ball fair. It ricocheted off the foul pole, winning the game for the Red Sox and sending the series to a seventh and deciding game the next night, which Cincinnati won.
NBC-TV director Harry Coyle had wanted to aim the camera on the ball. But legend has it that a rat in the left field camera booth had frightened the cameraman, causing him to stay focused on Fisk's "waving it fair". This play clinched an Emmy award for Coyle and NBC's coverage of the Series.
"Duffy's Cliff"
From 1912 to 1933, there was a 10 feet (3 m) high incline in front of the then 25 feet (7.6 m) high left field wall at Fenway Park, extending from the left-field foul pole to the center field flag pole. As a result, a left fielder in Fenway Park had to play part of the territory running uphill (and back down). Boston's first star left fielder,
Duffy LewisGeorge Edward "Duffy" Lewis , born in San Francisco, California, was a left fielder and left-handed batter who played Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox , New York Yankees and Washington Senators...
, mastered the skill so well that the area became known as "Duffy's Cliff".
The incline served two purposes:
- it was a support for a high wall;
- it was built to compensate for the difference in grades between the field and Lansdowne Street on the other side of that wall.
It also served as a spectator-friendly seating area during the dead ball era when overflow crowds would sit on the incline behind ropes. It is often compared to the infamous left field "terrace" at Cincinnati's
Crosley FieldCrosley Field was a Major League Baseball park located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second and third American Football League...
, but, in truth, the 15-degree all-grass incline there served an entirely different purpose as an alternative to an all dirt warning track found in most other ballparks. It was a natural feature of the site on which Crosley Field and its predecessors were located; slightly less severe inclines were deliberately built in center and right fields to compensate. The incline in center field of
Minute Maid ParkMinute Maid Park is a ballpark in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States that opened in 2000 to house the Major League Baseball Houston Astros....
has been considered a tribute to Duffy's Cliff.
As part of the 1934 remodeling of the ballpark, the bleachers and the wall itself, Red Sox owner stewert Yawkey arranged to flatten the ground along the base of the wall, so that Duffy's Cliff no longer existed, and thus became part of the lore of Fenway Park. Thus the base of the left field wall is several feet below the grade level of Lansdowne Street, accounting for the occasional rat that might spook the scoreboard operators. (
"The Fenway Project", ISBN 1-57940-091-4.)
For decades there was considerable debate about the true left field distance, which was posted as 315 feet (96 m). For years, Red Sox officials refused to remeasure the distance. Reportedly,
The Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
was able to sneak into Fenway Park and remeasure the line. When the paper's evidence was presented to the club in 1995, the line was finally remeasured by the Red Sox and restated at 310 feet (94.5 m). The companion 96 meters sign remained unchanged, until 1998, when it was corrected to 94.5 meters. A theory about the incorrect foul line distance is that the former 315 ft (96 m) measurement came from the Duffy's Cliff days. That measurement likely included the severity of the incline, and when the mound was leveled, the distance was never corrected.
EMC Club
In 1983, private suites were added to the roof behind home plate. In 1988, 610 stadium club seats enclosed in glass and named the "600 Club", were added above the home plate bandstand, replacing the existing press box. The press box was then added to the top of the 600 Club. The 1988 addition is largely credited with changing the air currents in Fenway Park to the detriment of hitters.
In 2002, the organization renamed the club seats the ".406 Club" (in honor of Ted Williams' batting average in 1941), six days after his death. (Williams is the last player to hit .400 or better to finish a regular season in the major leagues.)
During the 2005/06 offseason, as part of the continuing expansion efforts at Fenway Park, the existing .406 club was rebuilt. The second deck now features two open-air levels: the bottom level is the new "
EMCEMC Corporation , a Financial Times Global 500, Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company, develops, delivers and supports information infrastructure and virtual infrastructure hardware, software, and services. EMC is headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA.Former Intel executive Richard Egan and his...
Club" featuring 406 seats and
concierge servicesA concierge is an employee who either works in shifts within, or lives on the premises of an apartment building or a hotel and serves guests with duties similar to those of a butler. The position can also be maintained by a security officer over the 'graveyard' shift. A similar position, known as...
, and above that, the State Street Pavilion, with 374 seats and a dedicated standing room area. The added seats are wider than the previous seats.
Baseball
The Red Sox's one-time cross-town rivals, the
Boston BravesThe Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
used Fenway Park for the
1914 World SeriesIn the 1914 World Series, the Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Athletics in a four-game sweep.A contender for greatest upset of all time, the "Miracle Braves" were in last place on July 4, then roared on to win the National League pennant by games and sweep the stunned Athletics...
and the 1915 season until
Braves FieldBraves Field was a baseball park that formerly stood on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium was home to the Boston Braves National League franchise from 1915–1952, when the team moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin...
was completed.
Since 1990 (except in 2005 when, because of field work, it was held in a minor league ballpark), Fenway Park has also played host to a baseball version of Boston-area intercollegiate sports' prestigious Beanpot tournament, Boston College, Harvard University, Northeastern University, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the four-team tournament.
Beginning in 2006, the Red Sox have hosted the "
Futures at Fenway"Futures at Fenway" is a baseball event held at Fenway Park in Boston. It features two minor-league affiliates of the Boston Red Sox playing a pair of regular-season games against teams from their own leagues. The first such event was held on August 26, 2006, with subsequent installments on...
" event, where two of their minor-league affiliates play a regular-season doubleheader as the "home" teams. In 2006, the
Lowell SpinnersThe Lowell Spinners are a Short-Season A minor league baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.-History:Founded in 1996 after Clyde Smoll moved the Elmira Pioneers to Lowell, Massachusetts, the Spinners play in the New York - Penn League, which has a Short-Season A classification with 76 games a...
and
Pawtucket Red SoxThe Pawtucket Red Sox are the minor league baseball Triple-A affiliates of the Boston Red Sox and belong to the International League...
played, with both winning. The 2007 event featured Lowell and the
Portland Sea DogsThe Portland Sea Dogs are the Double-A minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Established in 1994 and based in Portland, Maine, the Sea Dogs play in the Northern Division of the Eastern League....
as the two featured farm clubs, again with both teams winning. Before the Futures day started, the most recent minor-league game held at Fenway had been the
Eastern LeagueThe Eastern League is a minor league baseball league which operates primarily in the northeastern United States, although it has had a team in Ohio since 1989. The Eastern League has played at the AA level since 1963. The league was founded in 1923 as the New York-Pennsylvania League...
All-Star Game in 1977.
The 2009
Atlantic Coast ConferenceThe ACC Baseball Tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Atlantic Coast Conference . It is a two-group round-robin tournament with the winners of each group facing each other in a one-game match for the championship...
baseball tournament was scheduled to be held at Fenway Park, but a scheduling conflict has caused the 2010 tournament to be scheduled at Fenway Park instead. Due to economic reasons, the ACC elected to move the 2010 tournament from Fenway Park to NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, NC, but is still looking to host a tournament at Fenway Park in the future.
Fenway Park has also hosted the Cape Cod Baseball League All Star Game since 2009.
Soccer
Since its construction, Fenway Park has hosted 19 soccer matches. The first game was played on May 30, 1931; 8,000 fans were on hand to see the
New York YankeesNew York Yankees were a New York soccer team that played briefly in the American Soccer League. They were formed following the merger of Fall River Marksmen and New York Soccer Club. Although the Yankees survived only a short time, they beat Celtic in a prestige friendly and effectively won the...
of the
American Soccer LeagueThe American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...
beat
CelticCeltic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
4–3. The Yankees goalkeeper,
Johnny RederJohn Anthony Reder is a former Polish American sportsman who during the 1930s played soccer with the Fall River Marksmen and the New Bedford Whalers and baseball for the Boston Red Sox. As a soccer goalkeeper he won three American Soccer League titles and two National Challenge Cup titles...
, would later return to play for the
Boston Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
. During 1968, the park was home to the
Boston BeaconsThe Boston Beacons were a United States soccer team from Boston. In 1968 they were founding members of the North American Soccer League but folded after just one season. The Beacons were actually a relaunch of the United Soccer Association team Boston Rovers. They played their home games at Fenway...
of the now-defunct
NASLNorth American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
. The latest soccer event was held in July 2010, when Fenway hosted an exhibition game between European soccer clubs Celtic F.C. and
Sporting C.P. called Football at Fenway. A crowd of 32,162 watched the two teams play to a 1-1 tie. Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner stated in early 2011 that he intends to bring the
Liverpool F.C.Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
, an English professional soccer club owned by
Fenway Sports GroupFenway Sports Management is a company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts established by Fenway Sports Group in 2004. It styles itself as a "new kind of sports marketing agency," created by FSG to expand its footprint beyond its most famous holdings, the Boston Red Sox of Major League...
, to play in Fenway sometime in 2012.
Football
In 1926, the first American Football League's
Boston BulldogsThe Boston Bulldogs were a professional American football team that competed in the first American Football League in 1926. Owned by Robert McKirby, the Bulldogs lasted only six games into the AFL season, playing one home game in Braves Field and one in Fenway Park...
played at both Fenway and
Braves FieldBraves Field was a baseball park that formerly stood on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium was home to the Boston Braves National League franchise from 1915–1952, when the team moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin...
; the
Boston ShamrocksThe Boston Shamrocks were a professional American football team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The team played in the second American Football League from 1936 to 1937, followed by at least one year as an independent in 1938...
of the second AFL did the same in 1936 and 1937. The
National Football League'sThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
Boston RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
played at Fenway for four seasons, 1933 to 1936, after playing their inaugural season in 1932 at
Braves FieldBraves Field was a baseball park that formerly stood on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium was home to the Boston Braves National League franchise from 1915–1952, when the team moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin...
as the Boston Braves. The
Boston YanksThe Boston Yanks were a National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at Fenway Park. Games that conflicted with the Boston Red Sox schedule were held at the Manning Bowl in Lynn, Massachusetts...
played there in the 1940s; and the
American Football League'sThe American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
Boston PatriotsThe New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
called Fenway Park home from 1963 to 1968 after moving there from
Nickerson FieldNickerson Field is a stadium on the site of Braves Field, in Boston, Massachusetts, the former home of the National League Boston Braves baseball team which is now located in Atlanta...
. At various times in the past,
Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
,
Boston CollegeBoston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
and
Boston UniversityBoston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
teams have also played football games at Fenway Park.
Hockey
The third annual
NHLThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
Winter Classic was held at Fenway on
New Year's DayNew Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
2010. The
Boston BruinsThe Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
beat the
Philadelphia FlyersThe Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
3-2 in over time, securing the first home-team victory in the relatively short history of the event. The Winter Classic paved the way for the Frozen Fenway series of ice skating and hockey events at the ball park. Frozen Fenway is an annual series of collegiate games featuring hockey teams from local and regional colleges and universities, including the
University of MaineThe University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...
,
University of VermontThe University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
,
Boston CollegeBoston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
and
Boston UniversityBoston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, is held during the first part of the event. After the completion of the hockey series, an the rink is opened to the public for free ice skating.
Public address announcers
Fenway Park has had four public address announcers in the over forty years dating back to the Impossible Dream season of 1967, with veteran composer and radio announcer
Sherm FellerSherm Feller , was an American musical composer and radio personality, perhaps best known for serving as the public address announcer for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park for 26 years....
serving for 26 of those years. The most recent announcer,
Carl BeaneCarleton E. Beane has been a sports radio broadcaster since 1972, and is best known as the public address announcer for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. Since 2003, Beane has been behind the microphone of every home game at Fenway Park....
, began his career in radio in 1972 and has handled duties at Fenway since 2003.
| Announcer |
Years |
| Frank Fallon Frank Fallon was a Boston sportscaster who served as a play-by-play announcer for the Boston Celtics and Boston Braves and was the public address announcer for the Celtics, Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox.-References:...
|
1954–1966 |
| Sherm Feller Sherm Feller , was an American musical composer and radio personality, perhaps best known for serving as the public address announcer for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park for 26 years....
|
1967–1993 |
| Leslie Sterling |
1994–1996 |
| Ed Brickley |
1997–2002 |
| Carl Beane Carleton E. Beane has been a sports radio broadcaster since 1972, and is best known as the public address announcer for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. Since 2003, Beane has been behind the microphone of every home game at Fenway Park....
|
2003–current |
Retired numbers
There are eight
retired numbers above the right field grandstand. All of the numbers retired by the Red Sox are red on a white circle.
Jackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
's 42, which was retired by Major League Baseball, is blue on a white circle. The two are further delineated through the font difference; Boston numbers are in the same style as the Red Sox jerseys, while Robinson's number is in the more traditional "block" numbering found on the Dodgers jerseys.
Until the late 1990s, the numbers originally hung on the right-field facade in the order in which they were retired: 9-4-1-8. It was pointed out that the numbers, when read as a date (9/4/18), marked the eve of the first game of the 1918 World Series, the last championship series that the Red Sox won before 2004. After the facade was repainted, the numbers were rearranged in numerical order.
The Red Sox policy on retiring uniform numbers was once one of the most stringent in baseball—the player had to be elected to the
National Baseball Hall of FameThe National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
, play at least 10 years with the team, and retire as a member of the Red Sox. The final requirement was waived for Carlton Fisk as he had finished his playing career with the
Chicago White SoxThe Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
. However, Fisk was assigned a Red Sox front office job and effectively "finished" his baseball career with the Red Sox in this manner. In 2008, the current ownership relaxed the requirements further with the retirement of
Johnny PeskyJohn Michael Pesky , nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was a Major League Baseball shortstop, third baseman, and manager. During a 10-year career, he played in 1942 and from 1946-1954 for three different teams. He missed all of the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons while serving in World War...
's number 6. Pesky has not been inducted into the Hall of Fame, but in light of his over fifty years of service to the club, the management made an exception. Pesky would have had 10 seasons but he had given 3 seasons as an Operations Officer in the U.S. Navy during WWII. The latest number retired was 14, worn by
Jim RiceJames Edward "Jim" Rice , nicknamed "Jim Ed", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder.Jim Rice played his entire career for the Boston Red Sox from 1974 to 1989...
. Rice met the original requirements, retiring after playing sixteen seasons with the Red Sox and entering the Hall of Fame in 2009.
| Red Sox retired numbers |
| Number |
Player |
Position |
Red Sox Years |
Date Retired |
Notes |
| 1 |
Bobby DoerrRobert Pershing Doerr is a former Major League Baseball second baseman and coach. He played his entire 14-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox . He led American League second basemen in double plays five times, tying a league record, in putouts and fielding percentage four times each, and...
|
2B |
1937–44, 46–51 |
1988-05-21 |
US Army, 1945 |
| 4 |
Joe Cronin Joseph Edward Cronin was a Major League Baseball shortstop and manager.During a 20-year playing career, he played from 1926–45 for three different teams, primarily for the Boston Red Sox. Cronin was a major league manager from 1933–47...
|
SS |
1935–45 |
1984-05-29 |
|
| 6 |
Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky , nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was a Major League Baseball shortstop, third baseman, and manager. During a 10-year career, he played in 1942 and from 1946-1954 for three different teams. He missed all of the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons while serving in World War...
|
SS, 3B, 2B |
1942, 46–52 |
2008-09-28 |
US Navy, 1943–45 |
| 8 |
Carl YastrzemskiCarl Michael Yastrzemski is a former American Major League Baseball left fielder and first baseman. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year baseball career with the Boston Red Sox . He was primarily a left fielder, with part of his later career...
|
LF, 3B, 1B |
1961–83 |
1989-08-06 |
|
| 9 |
Ted WilliamsTheodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
|
LF |
1939–42, 46–60 |
1984-05-29 |
US Marines, 1943–45, 52–53 |
| 14 |
Jim RiceJames Edward "Jim" Rice , nicknamed "Jim Ed", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder.Jim Rice played his entire career for the Boston Red Sox from 1974 to 1989...
|
LF |
1974–89 |
2009-07-28 |
|
| 27 |
Carlton FiskCarlton Ernest Fisk , nicknamed "Pudge" or "The Commander", is a former Major League Baseball catcher. During a 24-year baseball career, he played for both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox .Fisk was known by the nickname "Pudge" due to his 6'2", 220 lb frame...
|
C |
1969, 71–80 |
2000-09-04 |
|
| 42 |
Jackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
|
Brooklyn Dodgers 1947-1956, retired by Major League Baseball 1997-04-15 |
Ground rules
(all ground rules based on)
- Foul poles are inside the field of play.
- A ball striking the "Ladder to Nowhere" is in play.
- A ball going through the scoreboard, either on the bounce or fly, is a ground rule double
In baseball, a ground rule double is an award of two bases from the time of pitch to all baserunners including the batter-runner as a result of the ball leaving play after being hit fairly and leaving the field under a condition of the ground rules in effect at the field where the game is being...
.
- A fly ball striking left-center field wall to right of or on the line behind the flag pole is a home run.
- A fly ball striking wall or flag pole and bouncing into bleachers is a home run.
- A fly ball striking line or right of same on wall in center is a home run.
- A fly ball striking wall left of line and bouncing into bullpen is a home run.
- A ball sticking in the bullpen screen or bouncing into the bullpen is a ground rule double.
- A batted or thrown ball remaining behind or under canvas or in tarp cylinder is a ground rule double.
- A ball striking the top of the scoreboard in left field in the ladder below top of wall and bounding out of the park is a ground rule double.
- A fly ball that lands above the red line on top of the Green Monster and bounces onto the field of play is ruled a home run.
- A fly ball that gets stuck in the ladder above the score board on the left field wall is ruled a ground rule triple. (The only ground rule triple in MLB parks)
Access and transportation
- Fenway Park can be reached by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the...
(MBTA) Green LineThe Green Line is a streetcar system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the Boston, Massachusetts area of the United States. It is the oldest line of Boston's subway, which is known locally as the 'T'. The Green Line runs underground downtown and on the surface in outlying...
subway's Kenmore StationKenmore is an MBTA light rail station in the Kenmore Square area of Boston, Massachusetts, and serves the Green Line B, C, and D branches...
on the "B", "C" & "D" branches, as well as the Fenway StationFenway is a stop on the D branch of the MBTA Green Line. It is located in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts, under Park Drive near The Riverway. Named after the Fenway parkway rather than Fenway Park, it is not the nearest station to the stadium - Yawkey commuter rail and...
on the "D" branch.
- Yawkey Station
Yawkey is a station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line. It is situated near Fenway Park, Boston University and the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in the Fenway-Kenmore section of Boston....
is served by the MBTA Framingham/Worcester LineThe Framingham/Worcester Line is a railroad line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from Boston, Massachusetts to Worcester, Massachusetts, though some trains terminate at Framingham, Massachusetts...
commuter rail trains.
- Although the Massachusetts Turnpike
The Massachusetts Turnpike is the easternmost stretch of Interstate 90. The Turnpike begins at the western border of Massachusetts in West Stockbridge connecting with the Berkshire Connector portion of the New York State Thruway...
passes close to Fenway Park there is no direct connection. Motorists are directed to use local streets or Storrow DriveStorrow Drive is a major cross town expressway in Boston, Massachusetts, running south and west from Leverett Circle along the Charles River. It is a parkway—it is restricted to cars; trucks and buses are not permitted on it...
to access the park.
Popular culture
Fenway Park and the Red Sox have been referenced in various songs by
Dropkick MurphysDropkick Murphys are an Irish-American punk rock band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The band was initially signed to independent punk record label Hellcat Records, releasing five albums for the label, and making a name for themselves locally through constant playing and yearly St....
and
Jonathan RichmanJonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970 he founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key, generally acoustic backing...
.
The stadium has been featured in a number of films, most notably in the
2010The year 2010 saw many new films released worldwide. 2010 saw a dramatic increase and prominence in the use of 3D-technology in filmmaking and film releases after the success of Avatar in the format, with releases such as Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Jackass 3D, all animated films and...
crime film
The TownThe Town is a 2010 crime film starring, co-written, and directed by Ben Affleck adapted from Chuck Hogan's novel Prince of Thieves. The film opened in theaters in the United States on September 17, 2010 at number one with more than $23 million and positive reviews...
, directed by and starring
Ben AffleckBenjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
. In the film's climax, the main characters enter Fenway Park's cash room disguised as
Boston policeThe Boston Police Department , created in 1838, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest police departments in the United States...
officers and trick the guards and counting room staff in order to steal upwards of $3 million.
Other notable movies filmed at Fenway Park include 1989's
Field of DreamsField of Dreams is a 1989 American fantasy-drama film directed by Phil Alden Robinson and is from the novel Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella...
, an Academy Award nominated baseball homage that featured
Kevin CostnerKevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
and
James Earl JonesJames Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
watching a Red Sox game, and 2005's
Fever PitchFever Pitch, which was released as The Perfect Catch outside of the United States and Canada, is a 2005 Farrelly brothers romantic comedy film. It is a remake of a 1997 British film of the same name. Both films are loosely based on the Nick Hornby book of the same name, a best-selling memoir in...
, with
Jimmy FallonJames Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...
and
Drew BarrymoreDrew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
. The ending of the latter film had to be rewritten during the 2004 production when the Red Sox went on to win their first World Series title in 86 years.
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