Bill's Journal Entry #28

Fenway Park

Date: September 8, 2002

Location:  Boston, Massachusetts

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays

Travel companion: Mike Nadeau, a friend and former co-worker

Link to my photos

Game Result: The Red Sox defense starting falling apart in the fourth, as two Jays singles, a walk, and two Red Sox errors allowed three runs across the plate. The home team managed to tie it in the bottom of the inning, but their performance in the rest of the game showed that they never fully mentally recovered from the mistakes, as the Jays scored five in the sixth and seventh, and should have had several more. The Blue Jays cruised in from there to a 9-4 win.

Stadium Summary: Without a doubt, Fenway is one of the great, classic cathedrals of baseball. And it definitely didn't disappoint! The moment I got off the 'T' (Boston's subway) at the Fenway stop, I could just feel the history in the air, and it only got thicker as I got closer. The classic brick exterior among the narrow neighborhood streets screams Red Sox baseball. Inside, the history gets thicker still. The legendary Green Monster. The red seat in right field where Ted Williams' longest blast ended up. The seats that seem closer to the field than anywhere at any other park in the Majors. The infield like no other, with its dugouts well up the lines, the dirt coaching boxes and warm-up circles, and the infield dirt that rolls several feet further into foul territory around first and third than at most parks-seemingly worn that way by a century of Sox rounding the base full speed. This is, without a doubt, the essence of Boston baseball.

There is, however, another side of this park, that unfortunately is just as much a part of Boston baseball. That side includes the incredibly large number of seats with obstructed views -- be it because there is a vertical post in the way, a severe overhang from the upper deck, or, far too frequently, both. (This was the situation for the seats designated by the tickets we had that day. Fortunately, we found an open pair of seats, straight behind home plate about fifteen rows, that had no such obstructions.) Another part is the incredibly narrow aisles and concourses, both in the seating areas and by the concessions. I'm honestly surprised that the fire marshal allows them to have 30,000+ fans in here at once, as it would be quite difficult to evacuate quickly. In short, Fenway is old, its wrinkles are showing, and you can't help but be concerned that it's about to slip in the driveway and break a hip.

However, these negatives can't detract from the absolute beauty of this park. Recently, there have been many talks about whether to replace it or renovate it. My friend Mike, a Boston native, is a supporter of building a brand new, improved Fenway. Although I'll admit that doing that is probably a better option than doing nothing and leaving Fenway as is, I feel that if there's any way possible to avoid this by renovating the current Fenway, it must be done. This is simply too beautiful of an arena to just discard. You don't build a new Sistine Chapel. You don't build a new Statue of Liberty. And you don't build a new Fenway. You just fix them up, to return their classic splendor.

Best way to get a great aerial view of Fenway Park: The day before attending the game, Mike, his family, and I did a bit of touring of Boston. In addition to a "Duck Tour" (amphibious, former military vehicles-half truck, half boat), we went up to the observation deck of the Prudential Tower. This gives an outstanding view of Fenway. Best of all, we did this while a day game was in progress, and Fenway looks GREAT when packed with fans!

Best way to explore Fenway Park: Mike and I showed up WAY early for the game. We were on Yawkey Way around 10:00 a.m. for a game that started at 1:00 p.m. While touring the outside, we noticed a gate into Fenway wide open, with restrooms just inside it. Thinking that was the reason the gate was open, we proceeded through the gate, and found ourselves in the main concourse, only a couple feet from an entrance to the seating areas, with nothing restricting us to the restroom area. So we went inside! We toured virtually ever area of the park open to the public:  the Green Monster; the seats behind the bullpens; Ted Williams' right field chair ... EVERYTHING! We saw lots of warm-ups and batting practice, even before the stadium 'opened' to the public, and chatted over the bullpen wall with Sox coaches. Eventually, we thought, we'd be asked to leave, and we'd step outside, show our tickets, and come back in like 'normal' spectators, but it never happened! In fact, once they set up the turnstiles at each end of Yawkey Way, we were able to even head out there, enjoy that area, and come back in, without ever being asked for a ticket. If we hadn't had tickets, we still could have done all this, and watched the entire game for free! And Fenway is DEFINITELY a great park to explore when there's no one else there but the players! If you can pull this off, it's not to be missed!!!

Best autograph of my trip: OK, it was the only autograph of my trip. But I got a great one. Johnny Pesky, the great former Red Sox infielder, who is now most famous for having the Fenway right field foul pole, "Pesky Pole", unofficially named after him. Pesky led the American League in hits three times -- still a record -- but only hit 17 homers in his career. However, six of those reportedly were wrapped just inside this pole, and a nickname was born. Pesky, now in his eighties, is still a coach for the Sox, and this day, after hitting some flies to his players during batting practice, he sat for a while in the ballboy's chair down the third base line. There, I was able to get some photos, as well as his autograph on my Sox cap.

Most completely unnecessary Major League mascot: "The Green Monster". There are certain parks where a mascot helps to overcome the inadequacies of the ballpark. Philadelphia is a good example. But Boston??? Fenway itself, and the REAL Green Monster, are all the mascot that this park needed. Get rid of this grotesque, gangrenous Grover.

Hot dogs that best lived up to their hype: I was disappointed in the 'Dodger Dogs' in L.A. They were good, but just couldn't live up to their mythology. I was therefore concerned that 'Fenway Franks' would be a similar experience. I shouldn't have worried. These franks have flavor! Also quite good is the Legal Seafood clam chowder ... er, I mean "chowda".

Comment about a Fenway facility that sounds best in a Boston accent: The Fenway Pahk pahking garahge wohl was ohl mahhed with tah to keep it ohl from fohling apaht. (Translation: "The Fenway Park parking garage wall was all marred with tar to keep it all from falling apart.")

A tour completed, sort of: True, this was only my 28th stadium of my summer, with two left. But those two are Wrigley Field and the HHH Metrodome, both of which I have visited multiple times in previous years. On this day, I completed the goal that I had initially started the summer with, that of visiting every active park I had never attended before, thus completing my 'lifetime' tour. Yippee!

Stadium grade: A  In need of severe renovation, definitely. But a stupendous classic nonetheless.

Overall grade of my experience at the game: A  The opportunity to explore the stadium before it opened and the chance to talk to Johnny Pesky more than made up for the poor Red Sox performance.

-- Bill Verkuilen  biggbill@hotmail.com 

Return to Bill's Journal Home Page