Pillsbury Travels: Massachusetts: Boston's Fenway Park

More than two decades ago our family took a road trip from Toronto, Ontario to Boston, Massachusetts. We saw the Blue Jays play in Rogers Centre, and the Red Sox play in Fenway Park. I don't recall the reason we decided to make such a long detour on our drive home, for though we joked Fenway was "on the way home," it was quite a deviation. I remember Don took Ashley to the rooftop viewing spot so I could pay attention to the game. They appeared on the jumbotron with Ashley cradled in Don's arms, but I was too surprised to grab my 35mm camera to snap a picture. Sometimes not taking a picture forms a stronger memory than had we taken a picture.

When Don said the REI store in Boston was located across the street from Fenway, I suggested taking a ballpark tour while he hung out at REI. We'd both be in our elements for an hour. As we drove closer to Boston, Don expressed interest in taking the tour, too.

The day fell into place. We left home early. The weather was perfect as the recent heatwave left leaving a low humidity sunny day in its place. Our tour guide Mike was decidedly not from Boston as he could easily pronounce his Rs (a joke he made about himself without explaining where he is from), but he clearly loves the ballpark.

"Fenway is 114 years old, one of the oldest in North America. It is a living museum," began Mike, a sentence he repeated again during the tour to help it sink into our conscious thoughts.

We gathered outside Gate D. After walking through the metal detectors and receiving our bonus gift of a Fenway Tours Scarf that some chose to wrap around their necks while the rest of us wondered what we will ever do with them, we entered the food court area. Our large group had already been divided in half. The first half started their tour while our half waited for stragglers and those who wanted to use the bathroom first. Two people followed our tour to make sure we didn't stray too far.

In a way that felt like a full circle moment for me, that night the Red Sox were hosting the Blue Jays.

My own selfie, not the $40 version

Mike ushered us to seats near where I sat in 2003 or 2004. Wooden seats with very little leg room, and no cup holders. Each group was quickly photographed with home plate behind us. Those photos were for sale at the end of the tour for a mere $40. We passed.

"Fenway is the oldest ballpark in all of MLB (Major League Baseball). No two ballparks are the same. The seats are made of wood oak and iron. They were installed in 1934 -- 92 years ago," continued Mike. They are the only wooden seats in all of MLB. Living museums are not always comfortable.

From 1901-1911 the Boston Red Sox played where the campus of Northeastern University lies. There they won the 1903 World Series. At the time, the Fenway neighborhood was a swampland. Today most MLB ballparks are called by their sponsor's name, but here it is named for their neighborhood.

The Red Sox won the world series in 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918. In 1914 they added Babe Ruth. When he was denied the raise he demanded he left for the Yankees. The Red Sox did not win another World Series until 2004, ending what many called the "Curse of the Bambino."

Despite being tucked into a neighborhood, Fenway has grown over the years. In 1926 there was a fire near the Gulf sign. Seating had been on wooden benches. By the 1930s, the twenty year old stadium was falling apart. New ownership came in and made changes, including upgrading the 1934 seats where we were sitting. The Green Monster, a green wall, was installed. A net was added to prevent balls from going on Lansdowne Street. In 2002 the net came down, and the following year seats were added on top. Those seats originally sold for $50 a game before management realized they were a hot ticket. No season tickets are sold for this spot.

Fenway holds 37,355 people. At 80,000 square feet it is on the small size for an MLB stadium. They have no street-level room to expand, so they have expanded up. The 269 seats above the Green Monster actually hang over the sidewalk on Lansdowne Street. It is a homerun hotspot.

For me the most surprising part of the
tour was learning they grow over a thousand pounds of produce in Fenway Farms, a garden the ballpark added in 2015 atop the original 1912 rooftop.

Fenway is still one of only two ballparks with a manual scoreboard. Someone sits behind in throughout the game changing the score.

Note the lone red seat in the middle of the sea of green seats under the Ford Logo. We walked along the first baseline, behind the press boxes and at least one suite to learn more about why that seat is different.

On June 9, 1946 the Red Sox played a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers. Lights over the stadium had not yet been installed, so they had to play both games during the day, allowing barely a half an hour between each game. A man decided to stay in his seat to take a nap between the games. Ted Williams hit a 502 yard run, with the ball landing on Joe Boucher's head, going through his straw hat. The seat marks the farthest homerun ever hit in an MLB game.