Thoughts on Fenway Park: Where Do We Go From Here?
Sports Illustrated recently ran an interesting little poll, asking fans how they rate their baseball stadiums based on a variety of factors, including atmosphere, food, neighborhood, among others. Surprising to some, but not as surprising to some others (myself included), Fenway Park had a rather lackluster showing, placing 21st out of 30 in the overall ranking.
Now, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Fenway. I love the look of the stadium: the green walls, the brick exterior, the giant neon red Budweiser sign, the metal scoreboard, and just about every other cosmetic characteristic of 4 Yawkey Way.
I love the nostalgia factor. I very much appreciate the fact that Smokey Joe Wood stood atop the same dirt mound as as Daisuke Matsuzaka (give or take a few inches of dirt), and Ted Williams fielded ricochets from the same green wall as Manny Ramirez.
However, the Love Train derails abrupty after those two stops.
Do you want to know why Fenway ranks low in the “food” department, even though they offer clam chowder and sausage sangwiches (sic) and pizza and steamed franks? It’s because you’re likely to miss up to three innings while getting the food, thanks to the crowded, narrow pathways and over-utilized, understaffed vendor kiosks. You’ll have an easier time navigating through Mary-Kate Olsen’s uterus.
Do you want to know why Fenway ranks low in the “atmosphere” department, even though the crowd is as loud and electric and intense as they are in any other ballpark? Because the seats are built to fit WWI-era Irish leprechauns, thousands of grandstand seats do not face home plate, and there are dozens of load-bearing columns that sit directly in front of $45 grandstand seats.
To their credit, this ownership group has done wonderful things with several capital improvements on Fenway, something which likely factors into the newfound level of demand the park currently enjoys. However, after tens of millions of dollars have been spent on Fenway Park, the most glaring issues have not, and will never, be rectified. Fenway and the surrounding area sit atop a giant swamp (or “fens”), making it very difficult to build or change anything, due to reasons beyond my pay grade (environmental, structural, ect…). Essentially, there is a ceiling to the amount of renovation that can take place at Fenway.
The Yankees and Mets have similar issues; they have expensive ticket prices at sub-par ballparks. However, both teams will be getting new stadiums next year. A new Red Sox ballpark is not on any horizon, but should it be? Should there be a long term plan for a new stadium (15 years or so)?
I acknowledge this with a heavy heart: there is only one way to fix the most glaring problem faced by ticket-buying fans of the Boston Red Sox:
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I’ve been advocating that it be torn down for years.Its too small and all the paint in the world can’t cover the filth its covered with.They missed the boat by not grabbing Assembly Square,where they could have built a stadium twice the size of Fenway Park with great access from all sides including the water.
Just imagine they could lower the price iof tickets and still make more money than they ever will in the dump on the Fenway.Of course Mayor Tommy would cry in his Pasta Fah Zool over it.Baseball is a business and sound business principles should guide the owners.A new bigger park would cost less to maintain as well.
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Yes, it has its flaws, but I love fenway. The fact that yankee stadium will now be torn down makes it even more special.
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:46 pm
this column is sad, i don’t know about the priorities of the writer or the first guy who commented but i don’t go to fenway to buy food or to make sure my seat is comfortable, i don’t go to ensure i’m walking thru spacious surroundings, and i don’t go to find satisfaction with having fresh paint and clean floors, I GO TO WATCH A BALLGAME, I GO TO WATCH THE SOX PLAY, WITHOUT THE GAME WHO GIVES A FLYING F ABOUT THE “AMENITIES” OR LACK THERE OF, i could care less if the red sox play in a pit as long as they’ll still thrown on their caps and play passionate inspired baseball, i loathe people who bitch about fenway, it’s not about the cleanliness, it’s not about the seats, it’s not about the food, it’s about the team, it’s about the city, it’s about the tradition and knowing in your heart that those same shitty seats and those same long lines, and those same cramped quarters are the ones that your father, grandfather, and great grandfather sat in, stood in, and walked thru before you and loved it just as much as you, boston baseball isn’t fairweather, it never will be, the fans care about the team above all else, not the “glaring” issues of fenway, a real sox faithful and a real man would endure through longlines and crowded quarters because he loves watching the sox play and not go on websites and bitch and critique the very place that gives him some of the best memories of his life, its pathetic, if this is what concerns you, i suggest you find a different pastime to follow
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:50 pm
and another thing, who cares about rankings? are new englanders that insecure that they need to concern themselves with of all things how fenway ranks in superficial categories? once again i think not, its just sad that this is posted and not something actually do with baseball
May 4th, 2008 at 7:31 am
First thing I am not Redsox fan but I am a New Englander. Fenway park is an old worn out park but it’s the same old worn out park my parents brought my brothers and I to as kids and the same place I just brought my daughter to for her first game. The place has character which would be difficult to ever dublicate.
I say if the redsox can make money with the old place just like it is leave it alone until it crumbles to the ground.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:39 am
I appreciate the comments. It would be sad for me to see Fenway replaced, but when you look past the nostalgia factor, it seems like a necessary step in the evolution of this team. Sure, our grandparents went to Fenway…their grandparents lived in villages with no electricity or medicine. Things evolve.
While “comfort” seems like a non-factor in terms of game enjoyment, it really isn’t (do you still watch the Sox on the same 13-inch TV from 30 years ago)?.
As fans of the best baseball team of the 21st century, I think the potential is there for a world-class stadium, a-la Gilette.
I should have mentioned in the article that I am on the tall side, so it is virtually impossible for me to sit in most of the seats, the ones that cost less than $100. This skews my opinion a bit.
May 4th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Red Sox baseball is the only sport that runs true in my family. I’m old enough to remember going to sit next to the right field foul pole for 75 cents when they were in 9th or 10th place in th early sixties as well. I love Fenway Park. One of my earliest memories is coming up from the dingy runway and seeing Fenway for the first time as a 4 year old. My own version of the wizard of Oz.
I agree in sentiment with Dmiddy’s comments that it is about the game and not the fancy food. Unfortunately, the reality is that a large percent of the population wants to bring their families to an event that goes beyond the simplicity of the ball game, and if they come and spend money, we can continue to invest heavily in our farm teams and the occasional free agent, and continue to occasionally take advantage of home team discounts when our starts’ contract expire.
Let’s praise our beloved ballpark and praise ownership for doing what it has done to improve on it. At the same time, it really is time to support a long range vision that will replace the park with a stadium that can hold more people at an affordable price so that you don’t have to have an inside connection to see a ball game in person or be independently wealthy.
We currently hold 33,000+ and sell out consistently. If we could do the same with a park that holds 40-45,000 people we can make sure that we are competitive for a very long time.
Oh, by the way, I’m a pretty short guy, but Even I end up walking “like a duck” after seeing a game at Fenway. I just saw a game at the new Nationals stadium where I could stretch out a bit, with unobstructed site lines. What a luxury! I even have complete faith in our ownership that they would design such a stadium that would capture the history and love that we have for our Sox.
Let’s celebrate Fenway Park and realize how lucky this city has been to have such a gem and also understand that its time to let this park go, keep a warm spot in our hearts and move on. Sad but true.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
“Sure, our grandparents went to Fenway…their grandparents lived in villages with no electricity or medicine. Things evolve.”
O.K. I can sympathize with your inability to fit a tall frame in the seats, but this comparison is comical and adds nothing to your case. You should have simply said ‘things evolve’, which is still weak.
Last year I watched games in baltimore, atlanta, and boston. All nice parks. Nothing compared with boston. Nothing in those parks made me want to leave fenway.
Tear down fenway and the new park will be very nice and exactly like 20 other ball parks. Thankfully, I think those who want fenway torn down are in the minority, and I don’t see it happening any time soon.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:01 am
i go to school in missouri, i’ve got tons of friends who experienced this first hand, hell even my cousins who are from st.louis and diehard redbird fans hold the same opinion and sentiments, the cardinals tore down busch which was a perfectly good and storied stadium for a new stadium thats pretty much a mirror image of most of the new ballparks built in the last couple years, a mcmansion of sorts in terms of ballparks, there’s nothing iconic about it, there’s ambiance yes, but not the same as being enclosed in the arches of old busch, most people i know like the new busch but still miss and prefer the old, you don’t know what you have till it’s gone and i hope sox fans never have to face that scenario, i’m twenty one years old and a product of the advantages of technology and modernization but i’m not caught up in it, people now a days are weak, they get mesmerized by whats new and shiny and think anything less than it is obselete and therefore expendable, hence people switching cars and cell phones yearly for a new model, its a constant ridiculous cycle egged on by the media and corporate america and like suckers we fall for it, and with that we find the same suckers grandstanding for a new stadium for the same reasons
i agree with fenwayfan our great grandparents did live without electricity or cupholders in each seat, or access to every possible unnecessary concession under the f’ing sun, but does that mean that it was any less fufilling or enjoyable, evolving doesn’t always mean getting better, i don’t want nor do i need a new ballpark with bells and whistles and bullshit amenities that distract and detract from the game, that’s what i love about fenway, it’s crowded confines of people who come for one singular reason, to watch the sox play, win or lose! it’s brick and mortar and a common bond and love of the boston and not much else, but that’s the beauty of it, nothing more needs to be added to the equation, somethings don’t need to evolve to maintain their beauty, somethings maintain throughout and that is fenway and that is red sox baseball
please people be grateful for what you have and don’t be envious of what you don’t, we didn’t have a world series championship for 86 years but did that stop the boston faithful from living and dying with every pitch and hit by the sox in that span, this is one of the unfortunate biproducts of winning, some fans will get big heads and never be satisfied, my grandfather wanted to see the sox win one world series in his lifetime, he died with that wish, my father and i were lucky enough to experience what he always dreamed of, im not complacent, winning countless champsionships will never make me that way, but i’m not about to get overly demanding or lose sight of what matters most, as long as the sox play spirited passionate baseball i’m happy, new ballparks and records and trivial and superficial bullshit be damned, there is no agruement anyone can spew out that will trump this belief, it’s what boston was built on