Boston Red Sox | Fenway Park | My MLB 30 Parks Project
- chufantzou
- Apr 12
- 13 min read
Fenway Park is the home stadium of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball and the oldest of all active major league stadiums. It was built in 1912. The towering Green Monster in left field and the CITGO logo behind it have become one of Boston's classic landscapes.
Fens means wetlands in English. At that time, Boston's Back Bay was still the sea. People used land reclamation to fill in wetlands, so this area was called Back Bay Fens. Businessman John Taylor founded Fenway Realty Company and named the stadium "Fenway Park ".
Off-site facilities:
Fenway Park is special because the outfield is extremely irregular, and because the distance is too short, a high wall called the "Green Monster" was built in the left outfield. The Green Monster is a 37-foot (about 11 meters) high four-story wall, and players must hit it to be defined as a home run. The reason for the short distance is that the green Lansdowne Street in the picture above cuts through the outfield, so the distance is not deep enough, which is why there is such a design.
We entered the stadium from the red route Ipswich, Van Ness Street. This is Gate B, which is basically the gate closest to the city. If you take an Uber from the city, you will get off here, but if you take the subway or train, you will enter from the other side.
There is a statue in front of the gate, but the special thing is that this statue is not a person but four people. Who are they? They are Bobby Doerr, Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky. They were teammates from 1930 to 1950, but because all four of them participated in World War II, they participated in the war for a total of 11 years, so they were teammates together for only seven seasons. However, the combined winning rate of these four people in 52 years was as high as 60%, so these four players were selected into the Red Sox Hall of Fame and became the protagonists of this statue.
Jersey Street on the third base side will be closed during games as an extension of Fenway Park, which means that game ticket holders can go out and buy food before entering the stadium.
So here is the Red Sox's largest merchandise store, as well as many restaurants and bars. You can also continue to chat and drink with friends after the show.
If you walk into the left field street behind the Green Monster, there is a Bleacher Bar below the Green Monster. If you don't have a ticket, you can come here to drink and watch the game. It was originally a batting practice area used by teams visiting Boston in the past. Now it has been converted into a bar so that everyone can come here to enjoy the special atmosphere where history and modern baseball coexist.
Facilities:
We entered the stadium from the right field gate. As soon as we entered, we saw the children's playground and many shops. The fans were attracted by the aroma of food after entering. Soon, the place was crowded with people waiting for these high-calorie foods.
The children's playground is filled with the joy of children, and many baseball-related recreational facilities are provided here for children and adults to play.
Looking up, the Roman flags hidden between the concrete pillars are the proud moments of the Red Sox. The red pennant is the year of the World Series championship and the blue is the flag of the American League championship.
The most fun thing in the stadium is pitching speed test. Everyone tries their best to speed up, hoping to see how fast their arm can throw. According to my current record, it is only about 60 miles (slower than an elementary school student XD).
Each pillar also has the silhouettes and heights of past Red Sox stars, making it a great place to take photos.
There is a small outdoor team store next to the amusement area, which mainly sells jerseys, hats and small items. But please note that you can walk across the street to the large merchandise department outside the stadium even after entering, so you should only buy specific items such as signed balls here.
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Of course, how can we talk about baseball without mentioning bobbleheads? There is also a glass display of bobbleheads in Fenway Park. Many bobbleheads of past and current players are collected here. You can go and see if there is a Red Sox star you know.
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Along with the bobblehead dolls is the introduction of the Red Sox farm system. The Red Sox farm has a total of six levels, not including the two rookie leagues shown here, from 1A Salem Red Sox; High A Greenwell Drive; 2A Portland Sea Dogs and 3A Worcester Red Sox. It is worth mentioning that the 3A Worcester Red Sox once set the longest single-game battle record in their history. On April 18, 1981, they played a 33-inning battle that spanned the day. The game was even suspended at 4:07 a.m. on the first day, and the winner was not decided until the 33rd inning of the next day.
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Every corner of the oldest stadium reveals its extraordinary and the specialness of the team. The Red Sox logo alone has changed 10 times, not including the cap badge on the hat.
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Therefore, in the torrent of time, this team-based sport is naturally inseparable from the interaction between people. Then the lounge culture was born. In the 113 years, it has experienced the Babe Ruth era, the Ted Williams era, the John Henry era, and even won the world championship after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. These words engraved in the book are written with flesh and blood by players of every era.
After the bombing in 2013, professional basketball teams across the city wore BOSTON 617 STRONG jerseys, hoping to encourage the traumatized city to recover from the pain as soon as possible. 617 is the telephone area code of Boston, so the number can still be seen embroidered on the Red Sox's new city edition jerseys. This jersey was hung in the Red Sox player lounge at the time, symbolizing that the players fought for the city. They lived up to expectations and made a comeback in 2013 from the bottom of the previous year, eventually defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series and winning the World Series championship.
Another modern-day feature is the Red Sox bullpen car, which used to carry bullpen pitchers to the mound. However, with the changing times, there are not many teams using bullpen cars now, so this car has been retired and placed in the aisle for fans to take photos. In addition, there is a Red Sox batting helmet on the ATM machine. The small decoration can show the team's dedication.
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I really like this kind of historical photos. You can interpret many hidden details from these photos and get different stories. In 1940, the Red Sox stadium was renovated. The original bullpen was located in the foul area, so you always have to pay attention to foul balls or balls in the game that roll into the foul area. But because the team's rookie Ted Williams hit 31 home runs in his rookie year, the owner decided to add a bullpen in the right field and move it closer to the home run wall so that he can hit more home runs.
This is something that architecture fans will love, introducing the construction and renovation of the Red Sox stadium and many other things related to urban context.
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If you look up you'll see a series of old-school signs directing fans to their seats or food stalls. You can tell right away that this visual identification system is definitely not a modern design method, and even the font is very retro so it can be considered a Fenway Park logo.
On the wall are several women who work for the Red Sox. Because women are still relatively rare in the baseball circle, they are still specially marked. For example, the Red Sox hired the first African-American female coach in 2021. Bianca Smith served as a coach at the Red Sox spring training base, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as a coach in the professional baseball league. Now she has left the Red Sox to become the coach of the U23 British national team.
In addition to baseball games, professional baseball teams also have social responsibilities. They are responsible for conveying a lot of positive energy to society, so various charity activities, groups or funds are branched out from the baseball teams themselves. In addition, proclaiming diversity and inclusion is also something that teams do now, so there are walls on it welcoming fans in various languages.
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In addition, of course, there are posters of Red Sox players, all the special edition jerseys of that year, and a schedule of giveaways hung on the wall. This is of course to increase the number of people entering. If there are gifts being given out on that day, please try to arrive within an hour after the doors open to avoid disappointment .
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The food options at Fenway Park are quite diverse and novel to me. After all, there are not many seafood dishes in stadiums in the central United States. Only in Boston did I have the opportunity to eat lobster soup and lobster burgers.
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Another special thing is that there are many murals and even boilers on the brick walls of Fenway Park. They have a sense of modern aesthetics and can be seen everywhere in this oldest stadium. There is a sense of time gap between them and the modern baseball on the field, which is a very fresh feeling.
Seat View:
The infield seating area is designed in the old-fashioned "jewel box ballpark" style, so there are columns between the seats that block the view of the field, so you have to pay special attention to whether it will be blocked. Before buying tickets, it is strongly recommended to check the 3D seat map on the official website to confirm whether it will be blocked. Otherwise, it would be a pity to be blocked when you come to watch a rare game. In addition, there are also wooden chairs that have been preserved. I don't know if you can buy them. If you can, it will be an interesting experience.
The lower roof creates a sense of oppression, so fans sitting in the back rows will miss out on high fly balls.
In this way, the falling post will block the backboard. Sometimes the ticket price will be much cheaper. It is recommended to go to the official website to purchase tickets and look at the picture before purchasing.
On the contrary, the vision is slightly better as you go further out into the field, and you can see more clearly.
When visiting the Red Sox stadium, one cannot help but mention the Green Monster. Sitting in the super high seats overlooking the stadium is definitely one of the features that one wants to experience when visiting Fenway Park. However, scarcity makes things expensive, so the ticket price here is not very affordable. If you don't spend over $100, you may not be able to choose a seat here.
After viewing the view from the third base seat to the left field seat, the next step is to move from behind home base to the right field seat.
The first base and third base sides are basically mirror images so the design issues are similar, but it is certainly more lively to sit behind the home team.
There is a tequila bar at the top of the seating area on the first base side bordering the right outfield. Friends who like this strong and rich cocktail can come and try it.
The more you go towards right field, the wider the view will be. This is also the area with the most changes in height in Fenway Park . I think it is the most interesting part of the viewing experience. In addition, the children's play area mentioned above is also here. I think I can try to sit here.
Area 502 is a large terrace where spectators can stand and watch the game, allowing them to move around more freely. In fact, all major stadiums now have such bar standing seats, mainly for fans who want to chat. The game itself may not be that important, but having an outdoor space to chat will be a comfortable social occasion .
The bullpen in right field and the extremely short home run wall are also a major feature of Fenway Park. So, like the Cubs Stadium, the outfield seats are also very distinctive features of this jewel box stadium. In addition, the model base of the urban planning at that time created such a special layout of the stadium. I believe that it is a special place for us who have seen many standard baseball stadiums in Taiwan.
Atmosphere:
In the last chapter, I will introduce the special viewing experience at Fenway Park. The first is the photo area in the children's playground, which is deliberately designed to resemble the Red Sox rest area. Fans can take photos here wearing helmets, holding bats and even a full set of catcher's equipment.
There are two levels of stands in the infield of the stadium. The upper level is the box seats so you must have a ticket to go upstairs. The general seating area is limited to the first floor, so it is more difficult to get a bird's-eye view of the skyline from the infield to the outfield.
This time we were seated in row AA of Loge Box 115, which is convenient for getting in and out from the aisle. Although my view is occasionally blocked by people walking around, I think this seat is great in terms of mobility and comfort.
The starting pitcher for this game was Pivetta and the Rays sent out Civale. Both pitchers gave good performances, and the difference between the two teams was only one run after the middle of the game.
Of course, there will be mobile vendors selling all kinds of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, peanuts and other foods when watching a game here. One of the benefits for foreign tourists is that you can use cash here! This is very rare among major league teams today. This is the only place among the ten stadiums I visited that accepts cash payments.
Two large scoreboards displayed the game statistics. On the right scoreboard, to the left of the MassMutual sign, there were five lights that recorded good and bad shots. I didn't notice them until the end of the game.
Another scene you will see at the old stadium is that the camera position was not designed at that time, so you can see the camera and the photographer working in the corner of the aisle. Occasionally, you will make eye contact with him, which is quite a fun experience.
Although you cannot enter this area without a Green Monster seat ticket, you can still take photos nearby. Follow the signs and climb up the stairs to see the Green Monster, the landmark of Fenway Park.
From the above picture, you can see how small the outfielders are in proportion, and you can judge how tall the green monster is. However, there are seats and tables here, and the number of people is much smaller. The space allocated to each person is quite large, so comfort is not a problem.
The game went into extra innings as the score was tied after nine innings. Most of the fans went home early due to overtime work on weekday nights. There was also the second round of the National Hockey League playoffs on that day. The Boston Bruins won the game with a draw. The Red Sox fans sang happily in the stadium.
In the last 11 innings, Rays pitcher Manuel Rodríguez made a hidden mistake and in the bottom of the 12th inning, Romy Gonzalez hit a walk-off single, giving the Red Sox a hard-fought victory.
The game was over, and most stores were closing, but the bars were filling up with fans, toasting tonight's victory or continuing to chat about topics they hadn't finished talking about just now. We were a few tired birds, returning to the hotel to rest after flying from Chicago to Boston in the morning.
The bridge across the highway from the stadium is now called the David Ortiz Bridge. David Ortiz, nicknamed Daddy, is a star player of the Red Sox and a Hall of Fame candidate. Born in the Dominican Republic, Ortiz was selected to the All-Star Game 10 times in his career, and he was the home run champion, RBI champion, World Series Most Valuable Player, and three World Series champions. His number was retired by the Red Sox, and he is now a commentator, boss, and podcaster.
Walking across the Papa’s Bridge, you’ll see a giant Red Sox social media advertising billboard glowing indigo in the dark. You’ll see this sign when you take the shuttle bus from the airport, and you’ll know you’ve passed a Boston landmark. The excitement you feel when the scene that often appears in movies is actually right in front of you is unforgettable.
The red triangle CITGO sign on a white background is also a striking and classic image in the skyline of Fenway Park. Fenway Park's historical status and its unique architectural style make it a stadium that baseball fans will definitely want to visit. In addition, Boston, an important city in the founding of the United States, has many British-style urban planning and houses, which give the city a British atmosphere different from other places. I believe it will definitely be a stadium that fans who come to the United States to watch baseball cannot miss.
Notice for fans:
Shuttle service: No, please take public transportation. Take the Green Line to Kenmore Station and walk to Fenway Park.
Gate Open: 1.5 hours before the game
Bag policy: Yes (12*12*6 inch fully transparent bag)
Payment Policy: Cash payment, credit card accepted
Seat view: The back row has a narrow view and must pay attention to the pillars. The first row needs to pay attention to the railings and the movement of people. Please refer to the 3D Seating Map: https://www.mlb.com/redsox/ballpark/seat-map
Home bench: Red Sox dugout at first base side
Related Website:
Boston Red Sox official website: https://www.mlb.com/redsox
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