Fenway Park

Fenway Park is the home ballpark for the Boston Red Sox baseball club. It is located near, and named for, the Fenway neighborhood in the heart of Boston, which in turn is named for the nearby fens, or marshes. It opened on April 20, 1912, the same day as the now-defunct Tiger Stadium in Detroit. This makes it the oldest ballpark still in active use in Major League Baseball.

Features of the park

It has been said that Fenway is a disaster area for left-handed pitchers. Babe Ruth is one of the few southpaws who found success here. Ruth started his career here as a pitcher (mostly in the dead-ball era) and had a career record of 92 wins and 44 losses. He also set a World Series record by pitching 29 2/3 scoreless innings, a record that lasted until broken by Whitey Ford of the New York Yankees in 1961.

Related Topics:
Babe Ruth - World Series - Whitey Ford - New York Yankees - 1961

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Fenway Park is one of the few remaining stadiums in major league baseball to have a significant number of obstructed view seats. These are sold as such, and provide a reminder to an era of less commercially driven stadiums.

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The Green Monster

The stadium is most famous for "The Green Monster" located in left field. Constructed in 1934, the 37 foot (11 m)-tall wall is 240 feet long, has a 22 foot deep foundation, and was originally constructed from 30,000 pounds of Toncan iron. Since 1937, a 23-1/2-foot tall screen has protected the buildings, cars, and pedestrians on Lansdowne Street.

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The wall measures only 310 feet (94.5 m) from home plate down the left field line (See Duffy's Cliff).

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During the 1934 remodeling, the left-field scoreboard was added, and is one of two remaining manual scoreboards in professional baseball (the other being at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois). 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.

Related Topics:
Wrigley Field - Chicago, Illinois - Morse Code - Thomas A. Yawkey - Jean R. Yawkey

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In 1947, advertisements covering the left field wall were painted over using green paint, which gave rise to the nickname. Prior advertisements were: the Calvert owl ("Be wise"), Gem Blades ("Avoid 5 o'clock shadow"), Lifebuoy ("The Red Sox use it") and Vimms ("Get that Vimms feeling").

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In 1975, the wall was remodeled and an electronic scoreboard installed, and manual scoreboard changed to only show American League out-of-town scores. In 1976, the tin panels in the wall were replayed by a Formica-type panel which resulted in more consistent caroms and less noise when balls hit the wall. In 2003, National League scores returned; American League East division standings were first displayed 2005.

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"The Triangle"

"The Triangle" is a region of center field where the walls form a triangle 420 feet (128 m) from home plate. That deep-right-center point is conventionally given as the center field distance.

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"Williamsburg"

"Williamsburg", dubbed by sportswriters, is the bullpens built in front of the right-center field bleachers in 1940 for the benefit of Ted Williams. The name parodied Yankee Stadium's right field area that was often called "Ruthville."

Related Topics:
Ted Williams - Yankee Stadium - Ruthville

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Red bleacher seat

The lone red seat in the right field bleachers (Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21), is painted red to mark 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. William's homerun was measured at 502 feet (153 m), well beyond Williamsburg.

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"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, and they cut the 1934 remodeling's right field line distance by some 30 feet.

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"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, when he hit the pole for a home-run. This is contrary to popular belief that he "wrapped" a homer around it. In similar fashion, Mark Bellhorn hit what proved to be the game-winning homer in Game 1 of the 2004 World Series off that pole's (miked) screen, and TV announcer Tim McCarver said the resulting twang was "the worst sound he had ever heard".

Related Topics:
Johnny Pesky - Mark Bellhorn - 2004 - World Series - Tim McCarver

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"Fisk's Pole"

"Fisk?s Pole" is the name for the pole on the left field foul line, atop the Green Monster. In a ceremony before a 2005 interleague game against the Cincinnati Reds, the pole was named in honor of Carlton Fisk. In game six of the 1975 World Series against the Reds, Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk hit one of the most famous home runs in World Series history, a 12th inning walk-off shot down the left field line that bounced off the pole. The hit is best remembered for Fisk jumping down the first base line, watching the hit and waving his arms trying to will the ball fair.

Related Topics:
Cincinnati Reds - Carlton Fisk

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"Duffy?s Cliff"

From 1912 to 1933, there was a 10-foot (3 m)-high mound that formed an incline in front of the left field wall at Fenway park, extending from the left-field foul pole to the center field flag pole. As a result of the mound, a left fielder in Fenway Park had to play part of the territory running uphill (and back down). Boston's first star left fielder, Duffy Lewis, mastered the skill so well that the area became known as "Duffy's Cliff".

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The purpose of this mound was similar to that of the famous "terrace" at Cincinnati's Crosley Field: partly as a supporting earthworks for a high wall, and partly to make up the difference in grade between the field and the street on the other side of that wall. It also served as a spectator-friendly seating area during the dead-ball days when overflow crowds would sit behind ropes on that slope.

Related Topics:
Cincinnati - Crosley Field - Dead-ball days

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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 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. (As per the book The Fenway Project, 2004, Rounder Books, published for The Society for American Baseball Research).

Related Topics:
Tom Yawkey - Society for American Baseball Research

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For decades there was debate about the true left field distance, which was posted as 315 feet (96 m). For years ballclub officials refused to remeasure the distance. Reportedly, the Boston Globe was able to sneek into park and remeasure the line. When the Globes evidence was presented to the Club in 1995, the line was finally remeasured by the Red Sox and posted as 310 feet (94.5 m). The companion 96 meters sign remained unchanged, until 1998, when it was finally corrected to 94.5 meters. A theory about the incorrect foul line distance is the former 315 ft (96 m) measurement came from the Duffy's Cliff days. That measurement likely included the slope of the "cliff's" incline, and when the cliff was leveled the distance was never corrected. A quick study of the geometry of the cliff suggests that the theory has merit. Regardless of the posted distance, frustrated pitchers will always argue that the Green Monster is closer than the sign says.

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The .406 Club (formally 600 Club)

In 1983 private suites were added to the roof behind home plate. In 1988, 610 stadium club seats enclosed in glass, 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 the stadium to the detriment of hitters. In the 1980's, a MIT professor published his scientific findings that the addition has negatively impacted homeruns, giving scientific evidence for what was thought by hitters, fans, and the like. In 2002, the club renamed the club seats, the ".406 Club," in honor of Ted William's batting average in 1941. This was the last time that a batting average of over .400 was obtained in the major leagues.

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Center field "triangle"

There was once a smaller "triangle" at the left end of the bleachers, posted as 388 feet (118.3 m). 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 hits the Green Monster at a right angle, so the power alley could be estimated at 336 feet (102.4 m), assuming the power alley is 22.5 degrees away from the foul line as measured from home plate.

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