Encyclopedia
Fenway Park is the home
ballpark of the
Boston Red Sox baseball club.
Fenway Park opened on April 20, 1912, the same day as the
Tiger Stadium in
Detroit. After that stadium closed in 1999, Fenway became the oldest ballpark still in active use in
Major League Baseball.
It is located near, and named for, the Fenway neighborhood in the heart of
Boston,
Massachusetts,
United States. It takes its name from a comment by former owner John I. Taylor: "It's in the Fenway section of Boston, isn't it? Then name it Fenway Park."
Fenway Park hosted the 1946, 1961, and 1999
Major League Baseball All-Star Games.
Its opening in 1912 was five days after the sinking of the
Titanic was an Olympic class passenger liner [i] that became...
.
Features of the park
Historically, Fenway Park has been decidedly unfriendly to left-handed pitchers,
Babe Ruth being one of the few
southpaw exceptions. Ruth started his career as a pitcher and had a career record of 94 wins, 46 losses . Ruth also set a
World Series record by pitching 29? scoreless innings, a record that lasted until broken by Whitey Ford of the
New York Yankees in 1961.
Fenway Park is one of the few remaining classic parks in major league baseball to have a significant number of obstructed view seats. These are sold as such, and are a reminder of the architectural limitations of older ballparks.
"The Green Monster"
Main article: The Green MonsterThe stadium is most famous for the left field wall called the "
Green Monster". Constructed in 1934, the 37-foot, two-inch high wall is 240 feet long, has a 22-foot deep foundation, and was constructed from 30,000 pounds of Toncan
iron. Previously, a 23-˝-foot tall screen protected cars and pedestrians on Lansdowne Street. However, the screen was replaced after the 2002 season with more seating atop the Green Monster .
The wall measures only 310 feet from home plate down the left field line .
During the 1934 remodeling, the left-field scoreboard was added, and is one of two remaining original manual scoreboards in professional baseball . Running vertically down the scoreboard, between the columns of out-of-town scores, are the initials "TAY" and "JRY" displayed in
Morse code; a memorial to former Red Sox owners
Thomas A. Yawkey and Jean R. Yawkey.
In 1947, advertisements covering the left field wall were painted over using green paint, which gave rise to the "Green Monster" moniker. Prior advertisements were: the Calvert Brewery's owl mascot Gem razor blades Lifebuoy soap and Vimms vitamins
In 1975, the wall was remodeled and an electronic scoreboard installed, and manual scoreboard changed to only show out-of-town scores from other
American League games. In 1976, the railroad tin panels in the wall were replaced by a Formica-type panel which resulted in more consistent caroms and less noise when balls hit the wall.
In 2003,
National League out-of-town scores returned; American League East division standings were first displayed in 2005. Advertisements have also returned to the Green Monster in recent years, most notably for
Volvo,
CVS and
W.B. Mason. All work was done by D'Agostino Izzo Quirk Architects of
Somerville, Massachusetts.
In 2005, ads for Granite City Electric, Red Sox Foundation and F.W Webb, which replaced the Bob's Store ad, were added to the Green Monster.
In more recent years, also, other artwork has appeared on the Monster, including ads for the 1999 All-Star Game, the 100th anniversary of the
Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park's 90th birthday and the
Jimmy Fund/
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
"The Triangle"
"The Triangle" is a region of center field where the walls form a triangle 420 feet from home plate. That deep right-center point is conventionally given as the center field distance.
"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 here primarily for the benefit of
Ted Williams, to enable him and other left-handed batters to hit more
home runs, since it was 23 feet closer than the bleacher wall. The name was inspired both by
Colonial Williamsburg and
Yankee Stadium's cozy right field area that was often called "
Ruthville".
The Lone Red Seat
The lone red seat in the right field bleachers , signifies the spot where the longest measurable home run ever hit inside Fenway Park landed.
Ted Williams hit the home run on June 9, 1946 off Fred Hutchinson of the
Detroit Tigers. Williams' bomb was officially measured at 502 feet — well beyond "Williamsburg". According to Hit Tracker Online, the ball, if unobstructed, would have flown 520 to 535 feet.
The ball landed near the head of one Joseph A. Boucher, who was supposedly taking a nap at the time, penetrating his large straw hat and hitting him in the head. A confounded Boucher was later quoted in saying "How far away must one sit to be safe in this park? I didn't even get the ball. They say it bounced a dozen rows higher, but after it hit my head, I was no longer interested. I couldn't see the ball. Nobody could. The sun was right in our eyes. All we could do was duck. I'm glad I didn't stand up."
No other player at Fenway Park has ever hit that seat since, although on June 23, 2001
Manny Ramirez hit two home runs; one measuring 463 feet and another one that went 501 feet.
David Ortiz has also come close.
"The Belly"
"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, in order to allow Ted Williams to hit more home runs. The right field line distance from the 1934 remodeling was reduced by some 30 feet.
"Pesky's Pole"
Pesky's Pole is the name for the pole on the right field foul line. The pole was named after Johnny Pesky, a light-hitting shortstop 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 attribute pitcher Mel Parnell with 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 similar fashion, Mark Bellhorn hit what proved to be the game-winning home run off of Julian Tavarez, in Game 1 of the
2004 World Series off that pole's screen.
Fisk Foul Pole
In a ceremony before the Red Sox's 2005
interleague game against the
Cincinnati Reds, the pole on the left field foul line atop The Green Monster was named Fisk Foul Pole, in honor of Carlton "Pudge" Fisk. Fisk provided one of baseball's most enduring moments in Game 6 of the
1975 World Series against the Reds. Facing Reds right-hander Pat Darcy in the 12th inning with the score tied at 6–6, 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 was won by Cincinnati.
"Duffy's Cliff"
From 1912 to 1933, there was a 10-foot-high incline in front of the then 25-foot 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 . Boston's first star left fielder,
Duffy Lewis, 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; and
- 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 Field, 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 centerfield of
Minute Maid Park 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
Tom 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.
For decades there was considerable debate about the true left field distance, which was posted as 315 feet . For years, Red Sox officials refused to remeasure the distance. Reportedly, the
Boston Globe is the most widely circulated daily newspaper [i] in Boston, Massachusetts [i] and ...
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 . 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 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. A quick study of the geometry of "Duffy's Cliff" suggests the theory has merit. Regardless of the posted distance, frustrated pitchers will always argue that "The Green Monster" is closer than the sign says.
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 the 1980s, an
MIT professor published his scientific finding that the addition does, in fact, curtail home runs at Fenway Park, giving credence to that claim by players, coaches, and fans, most notably Wade Boggs
In 2002, the organization renamed the club seats the ".406 Club" , six days after his death.
During the fall and winter of 2005-2006, 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 "
EMC Club" featuring 406 seats and
concierge services, 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. All work was done by D'Agostino Izzo Quirk Architects of Somerville, MA.
"The Triangle"
There was once a smaller "triangle" at the left end of the bleachers in center field, posted as 388 feet . The end of the bleachers form a right angle with "The Green Monster", 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 a right angle, so the power alley could be estimated at 336 feet , assuming the power alley is 22.5 degrees away from the foul line as measured from home plate.
"Canvas Alley"
A phrase made popular by Boston television commentators, "Canvas Alley" is the open alley behind the first base line where the grounds crew sits. Canvas Alley has recently been narrowed to accommodate seats. Contrary to common belief, it does not actually house the tarp. The tarp sits next to the camera pit which is next to the Red Sox dugout.
Ground rules
- Foul poles and screen poles are outside playing field.
- A ball going through scoreboard, either on the bounce or fly, is two bases.
- A fly ball striking left-center field wall to right of line behind 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 two bases.
- A batted or thrown ball remaining behind or under canvas or in tarp cylinder is two bases.
Changes to Fenway Park
In 1946, upper deck seats were installed; Fenway Park is essentially the first double-tiered ballpark in Boston since the
South End Grounds of the 1880s.
In 1947, arc lights 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. 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 atop the roof boxes along the first and third base sides.
After Red Sox won the
2004 World Series, 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.
Proposed changes
The Red Sox plan to also add approximately 700 tickets for the 2007 season and 1,400 tickets for the 2008 season. In adding additional seating, the Red Sox plan to have 1,000 of the seats added over the three years be high-priced premium seats, to help deflate ticket costs and bring Fenway Park up to the MLB average of percentage of premium seating.
The Red Sox have also stated that at some point before the 2012 season that they would like to replace the old wood seats in the Grandstand section.
Seating capacity
Fenway Park long prided itself on being the smallest park in the major leagues. For the 2006 season, however, Fenway Park's capacity has been increased from 36,298 to 38,805—meaning that the smallest ballpark is now Pittsburgh's
PNC Park. While techically a larger stadium, Oakland's
McAfee Coliseum has the smallest capacity in the majors due to Athletics management's decision to limit seating to 34,077 by putting a tarp over the upper deck. Reported attendance is generally 1,500 to 2,000 below capacity, though, due to the distribution of complimentary
and promotional tickets by the team, as well as no-shows. Capacity for day games is also reduced by 410 seats in the center field bleachers to provide a better hitter's background. By the park's 100th birthday in 2012, the team has announced that capacity could be increased to as much as 39,968.
Capacity has increased in recent years as additional rows have been added in front of the field boxes in former foul territory , on top of "The Green Monster" , atop the right field roof , and in 2006 to the roof , which has been raised by about 10 feet, and to the former .406 Club . There have been proposals to increase the seating capacity to as much as 45,000 through the expansion of the upper decks, while others have called for razing the historic ballpark entirely and building a similar, but larger and more modern, scalable facility nearby. Fenway Park also has standing room areas on the Roof, Green Monster and throughout the park.
Other uses
Baseball
The Red Sox's one-time cross-town rivals, the
Braves used Fenway Park when they were the Boston Braves and played their home games there during the 1914 World Series.
Since 1990 , Fenway Park has also played host to a baseball version of Boston-area intercollegiate sports' prestigious Beanpot tournament. Because of recent Title IX regulations which have forced Boston University to discontinue the baseball program, the Baseball Beanpot is a regional tournament; Boston College, Harvard, Northeastern, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are the four schools which play in the baseball Beanpot.
Speculation became rampant after
Boston College joined the
Atlantic Coast Conference in 2005, that the conference is considering having the conference baseball tournament at Fenway Park, thereby allowing all eight schools in the tournament to carry considerable number of fans to the tournament. It has been announced that the 2009 ACC
tournament will be held at Fenway Park.
On August 26, 2006, Fenway Park hosted the "Futures at Fenway" doubleheader of
minor-league teams from within the Red Sox organization. It was believed that this was the first minor-league game held at the park since the 1977 Eastern League All-Star Game, and the first such regular-season game since 1968.
Hockey
In February 2006 the Boston Herald and other news sources have reported that Boston College has shown interest in setting up a hockey rink and playing a game there in the winter of 2006–2007.
Soccer
On May 30, 1931, 8,000 fans came out to Fenway Park to see the New York Yankees of the
American Soccer League beat
Glasgow Celtic of
Scotland 4 - 3.
Fenway Park was used by the NASL team, the Boston Beacons, for one year as their home field. After that season, the Beacons went bankrupt. There has been talk of the New England Revolution of
Major League Soccer playing a game or two at Fenway Park, but that has yet to happen.
Football
Despite its relatively small size, Fenway Park's
oblong-esque layout actually makes it a reasonably viable
football facility. The
National Football League's Boston Redskins played at Fenway for four seasons, 1933 to 1936, after playing their inaugural season in 1932 at
Braves Field as the Boston Braves; the
Boston Yanks played there in the 1940s; and the
American Football League's Boston Patriots called Fenway Park home from 1963 to 1968 after moving to there from
Nickerson Field, the direct descendant of Braves Field. At various times in the past,
Boston College and
Boston University teams have also played football games at Fenway Park, too.
Political speeches
One of the most famous
campaign speeches in American political history was made at Fenway Park in the 1940 Presidential race, when
President Franklin D. Roosevelt promised that he would not send American servicemen into foreign wars. During this time
World War II was raging in
Europe, but the United States was officially
neutral, although it was aiding the
United Kingdom and the
Soviet Union. This speech was noted repeatedly by Roosevelt's opponents, even after
Japanese Imperial Naval forces attacked the
United States at
Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii on December 7, 1941, causing the United States to enter World War II.
Concerts
Although Fenway Park was not previously a frequent venue for
concerts, the Red Sox new ownership has used the venue for two concerts each year, starting in 2003 with
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's
The Rising Tour,
Jimmy Buffett in 2004 ,and
The Rolling Stones who kicked off their 2005
A Bigger Bang Tour with two consecutive shows at Fenway Park. On July 7–8, 2006 the
Dave Matthews Band played at the stadium, with Sheryl Crow.
Fenway Park in film
The park was featured in a pivotal scene in the 1989
Kevin Costner film
Field of Dreams is a movie [i] about a farmer who becomes convinced by a mysterious voice that ...
. It was the only location shot outside the
Iowa-
Illinois area.
The 2005 movie,
Fever Pitch included scenes shot on location during the 2004 American League Championship Series games and scenes from
Busch Stadium were filmed after Game 4 of the
2004 World Series.
Some scenes from
Blown Away and
Little Big League were filmed at Fenway Park.
In the episode "
A Leela of Her Own" of the animated television series
Futurama is an American [i] animated television series [i] that follows Philip J. Fry [i] ...
, Fenway Park is home of a professional
Blernsball team, the Boston Pointdexters.
In the episode "
Big Hair & Baseball" of
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, is an American [i] children's television series [i] ...
,
Mr. Moseby takes
Zack and
Cody to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park
The 2005 movie
Fever Pitch used Fenway Park extensively for filming. Major scenes for the movie were shot after home games with several fans staying in the stands as extras.
References
External links
- . MLB.com.
- at Clem's Baseball
