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The Spectacle Blog
I saw some of the ceremony commemorating Fenway Park’s 100th anniversary prior to today’s game against the New York Yankees.
I think they had nearly every living person who ever wore a Red Sox uniform: Yaz, Nomar, Mo Vaughn, El Tiante, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Jim Lonborg, Rice, Dewey, Fisk, Buckner, Mike Timlin, Alan Embree, Canseco, Rick Wise and Tito decided to come along after all. If you looked hard enough you could see Don Schwall (who beat out Yaz to win the 1961 AL Rookie of the Year) and Pumpsie Green, the Red Sox’s first black player. Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek helped along Johnny Pesky and Bobby Doerr in their wheelchairs while Kevin Millar and Pedro Martinez led the largest toast in the history of the world with a little help from Welch’s. Mayor Menino and Caroline Kennedy threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Well, Neil Diamond did write “Sweet Caroline” for her although it’s probably time to hear a new song in the middle of the eighth inning.
As a resident of the City of Boston for the past 12 years, Fenway has become my neighborhood ballpark. For most of those years it was literally so as I lived in the Fenway and could walk to the ballpark in five to ten minutes. Over the years, it often took me longer to get out of the ballpark and onto the street than it did to walk home.
I have seen more than 80 games at Fenway. Of course, I remember the first game I attended at Fenway on April 17, 2000 - Patriot’s Day. The Sox lost 1-0 to the Oakland Athletics. Earlier this week, I saw the Sox on Patriot’s Day. They also lost 1-0 this time to the Tampa Bay Rays. Particular things stand out such as seeing Brian Daubach get walk off hits on three separate occasions in 2000. I saw Hideo Nomo carry a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Minnesota Twins. He had thrown one in his Red Sox debut against the Orioles in Baltimore. I saw Bret Saberhagen record his last big league win and on my 35th birthday saw what turned out to be Roger Clemens’ last big league appearance.
I remember Oakland Athletics centerfielder Terrence Long robbing Manny Ramirez of what would have been a walk off homerun and Jermaine Dye looking at him as if to say, “You didn’t just make that catch.” I saw Jonathan Papelbon make his big league debut as a starting pitcher against the Minnesota Twins. In that same game (which was played during the trade deadline), Manny pinch hit and got a game winning single. After the game, he coined the phrase “Manny being Manny.”
On two occasions, I saw David Ortiz hit walk off homeruns. The first was on Easter Sunday in 2004 in a twelve inning triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays. The second time was on July 31, 2006 against the Cleveland Indians off Fausto Carmona (who, as it turns out, is not actually Fausto Carmona.)
Usually I sit in the grandstands on the first base side. But I’ve sat in the bleachers. I would advise against it because you’re not protected from the elements. The same is true if you sit in the seats above the Green Monster which I did on a rainy night towards the end of the 2005 season against the Twins.
Still, I like the fact that you are close to the action no matter where you at Fenway and that the Red Sox assume your intelligent enough to know when to cheer and when to jeer. You don’t see instructions on the scoreboard telling you when to make your voice heard nor do they feel the need to fill every second with loud, obnoxious music. Can you say Yankee Stadium? Since John Henry and Tom Werner took over, Fenway has had a substantial facelift for the better especially the concourses. No longer does it look like a dank basement.
So what’s my most memorable moment at Fenway? That’s easy. Game 5 of the 2008 ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays. If the Sox lose, the Rays go onto the Series. Down 7-0 in the 7th, many people left. I wasn’t going anywhere. If they lost, I was going to see it through. The Sox won 8-7 on a walk off single by J.D. Drew. Of course, that game would have been more memorable had the Sox won Game 7.
I’ve seen the Sox through good (two World Series titles in 2004 and 2007) and bad (the collapse of 2001 and the even bigger collapse of 2011 which I’m convinced has only just begun.) But win or lose, if you love to watch baseball then Fenway Park is the place to be and hope to be there for many more seasons to come.
UPDATE: The losing continues as the Sox fell 6-2. The Yankees hit five homeruns including the 631st of Alex Rodriguez’s career. He passes former teammate Ken Griffey, Jr and is now fifth on the all-time homerun list. Meanwhile, the Sox are 4-9 in this young season.
View all comments (27) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/04/20/fenway-100
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Occam's Tool| 4.20.12 @ 6:31PM
No electric billboard at Wrigley when I went there. And great hotdogs and frostymalts.
Pete| 4.21.12 @ 12:20PM
And no parking, roofs falling apart, no arm rests on the seats, and brown ivy on the walls in April. Cub fans have a romantic attachment to a broken down wreck of a stadium, mainly because it is surrounded by taverns.
JP| 4.21.12 @ 12:55PM
And that is something bad?
Pete| 4.22.12 @ 12:52PM
Nope, just meaningless.
Paul McGrath| 4.20.12 @ 6:48PM
Like you Aaron, I have many fond memories of baseball. I grew up in the Detroit area and was a boy when the Tigers won the World Series in 1968. Went to many games at Tiger Stadium. Kaline, Cash, Lolich, McClain. Saw Cash hit a home run off the third deck in right field. I will never forget this. No human being could hit the ball that hard. (A couple of years later, Reggie Jackson hit one off of the light stand during the All Star game--which was perched ON TOP of the third deck.)
Saw the Bird, Mark Fidrych, three times in 1978; each of those games was attended by 54,000 people. Madhouse. Crazy, fun drunkenness in the bleachers, marijuana joints passed up and down the aisle. Screaming, howling. They beat the Yankees on Monday Night baseball in the third Bird game I saw--Reggie Jackson now on the Yankees--and the Tigers won 3-0. Insanity. Tickets to the center field bleachers were a dollar. A buck. There was nobody on the planet who could not afford to see a Tiger game.
I moved to S. F. in 1980 and immediately began to go to see the Giants. Bit of a culture shock. The vendors at the Giant's games were . . . kids. In Detroit, they were grizzled men working a part time job. In S. F., the people wore jerseys and t-shirts. In Detroit, they wore jackets with an insignia which said LOCAL 423, or something.
But the Giants, ahh, God, the Giants. Jeff Leonard, Will Clark, Robbie Thompson. Kevin Mitchell, Matt Williams. Saw Greg Maddux mow them down one day to complete a three game sweep. '93, '94 maybe? Heavy traffic on 3rd St. on the way out after the game. Stalled traffic. Some clown in a convertible was waving a broom around in the afternoon sunshine. Another guy got out of his car, wearing, I swear to God, red shorts, boots, and nothing else, ran over to that car, pulled the broom out of the unsuspecting guy's hands, and busted it over his knee. There was a roar. Sitting out there on 3rd St., there was a roar.
I haven't even started to talk about Barry Bonds, or 2010.
But, well, baseball. Baseball, man.
Aaron Goldstein| 4.20.12 @ 11:26PM
Paul,
It is fitting you should talk about Tiger Stadium. Had it remained open it would have also been celebrating its 100th anniversary today.
For many years, I watched Tigers baseball on WDIV which was broadcast by George Kell and Al Kaline. I remember the Tigers winning the AL East in 1987. On the last day of the '87 season, Frank Tanana outdueled Jimmy Key 1-0. The only run was a homerun by Larry Herndon.
In August 1999, I made a pilgrimage to the corner of Michigan & Trumbull and saw the Tigers beat the Anaheim Angels 8-7 in 10 innings.
You're right about the vendors. I remember talking with a couple of them who had been around since the Tigers won it all in '68.
I've never been to S.F. However, my sister is a huge fan of Tim Lincecum so I follow the Giants when he pitches. So now we talk baseball. I couldn't have imagined writing that sentence a year ago.
Pete| 4.21.12 @ 12:21PM
Was Norm Cash the first of the steroid users?
Paul McGrath| 4.21.12 @ 11:59PM
Aaron,
Might be time to get on a plane and take a vacation to San Francisco. The City. They call it that for a reason. You will know why if you go there.
The new ballpark is a ten to fifteen minute walk from downtown. Second St.'ll take you there. Bars, restaurants. People everywhere, even when there is no ballgame.
The ballpark is new, but they made a point to give it character. You've seen the home runs hit over the right field bleachers that land in the water. What you may not know is that there is a sidewalk there, along the water, and under the right field stands you can walk right up behind the right field fence and watch the game for free, through the metal grating they have in the brick wall. Anybody can do this. Of course, everybody does, so, it's really not the best place to watch the game.
Center field is a mile away from home, and there is a little jut in the wall in right center. If you hit it to right field you'll get it out, but if you miss, and it goes to center, no chance. But if you hit it hard enough and the center fielder can't get to it, the ball is going to bounce around out there like a pinball. They call it triples alley. When one gets out there, or caroms off the wall, it's about as exciting as anything.
Five or six years ago I saw Bonds hit one out to dead center. I was sitting in the left field bleachers. Not my favorite place but still fun. To this day I can still hear the clonk as Bonds' ball hit off something, and the clank as it took its second bounce off something else. Bonds turned out to be a disgusting jerk, but I will never forget that home run.
The tickets are not cheap. First base side, lower deck, is $75.00 apiece. Beer, eight bucks, maybe more now. Baseball is no longer easily accesible to the masses.
But Aaron, S. F., your sister, your love of baseball. You must do this.
Aaron Goldstein| 4.22.12 @ 2:23AM
I am aware of the boardwalk alongside McCovey Cove and that fans can watch the game from the right field fence for up to three innings. AT & T Park is on my to do list.
Bob| 4.20.12 @ 6:58PM
More proof that Aaron Goldstein should avoid writing about baseball.
The Tampa Bay Rays were perennial basement dwellers throughout their entire existence, finishing fourth only once, UNTIL they finally made it to the World Series in 2008, taking the NL East from the Yankees and forcing the Red Sox to watch.
And, they were still the Devil Rays in 2005.
Shows how much Aaron Goldstein cares about the Red Sox, and pays attention to their opponents. Sorry, but it has to be said.
Bob| 4.20.12 @ 7:01PM
...aaand then I goofed. It's AL East, not NL East.
DRed| 4.20.12 @ 8:40PM
The best part was when the Yankees crushed them.
ejp| 4.20.12 @ 9:12PM
Ballgame over! THHHHHEEEEEE Yankees win! :D
Chesterbelloc | 4.20.12 @ 9:32PM
Lifelong Boston resident here, a Boston Braves fan. The Red Sox are soulless.
Crassus| 4.20.12 @ 11:13PM
My two favorite AL teams--the Cleveland Indians and whoever plays the Red Sox.
Mike Daly | 4.20.12 @ 11:50PM
I've been to Fenway several times over the years and never understood why people think it's a beloved ballpark. Even with the lipstick-on-a-pig changes by the Henry-Werner-Lucchino cartel installed by Uncle Bud, the place is a dump - cramped, hideously outdated, poor seating, and shoehorned in the middle of several blocks of buildings with colleges nearby. The 100 Years celebration has wound up displaying the worst of the H_W_L cartel - after firing Terry Francona and then having a Boston Globe writer author a piece fabricating allegations of drug use by him (to justify firing him), the Henry-Werner-Lucchino cartel asked him to come to the celebration, and when he refused Lucchino lashed out at him on the phone saying, "You're not being fair to us," as though HE owed them something.
The incompetence of ownership has steadily grown since they inherented Dan Duquette's roster, installed inept wonderkid Theo Epstein as GM and then saw Lucchino (who didn't win anything in his previous stops in Baltimore and San Diego) try to stab Theo in the back (leading to the infamous gorilla suit caper), then gutted the roster by installing overhyped underperformers such as Daisuke Matsusaka, J.D. Drew, and Julio Lugo (usually basing such signings on the discredited "Moneyball" philosophy) who cost insane amounts of money while stabbing Francona (by far the best manager in Red Sox history) in the back by meddling in lineups, providing more and more garbage for players, and creating a cover-your-ass culture throughout the organization, culimating in the disgraceful chicken-and-beer party atmosphere where the players quit on winning and cared more about the clubhouse parties, refused to stay in shape, and refused to take accountability. The cover-your-ass culture reached a tragicomic apex in Henry's bizarre snap interview on WBZ-FM after public criticism was aired of his ownership.
The Red Sox and the city need to tear down Fenway and build a real ballpark - a dome where rainouts become a thing of the past and there's actual room to watch the game. And the ownership group needs to sell the team sooner instead of the later they're presently planning.
rcw| 4.21.12 @ 12:40AM
I certainly agree with the collapse is just beginning point. 2012 is looking to be absolutely horrible; perhaps the worst season vs. expectations in the history of baseball. Is there a record for that? In thinking a bit about 2012 a couple of weeks ago, that scene from "Law Abiding Citizen" where the protagonist talked about bringing the whole thing down around their heads, it was going to be epic came to mind. Am I being 2 pessimistic?
Bob K.| 4.21.12 @ 10:41AM
My son's office in the Physics Department of Boston University is a few minutes walk from Fenway. Like his younger brother, who was a fine athlete, he has little interest in Baseball.
Much of that lack of interest I attribute to the structure and organization of Little League Baseball which effectively ends the playing season for kids in the Northeastern USA in July. High School ball ends in June and the organizational structures in Northeastern USA for summer ball for teens are weak and missing in many areas. I suspect that this is the same throughout North Central America and the Mountain states.
The game for our American youth now belongs to the young men who grew up in our Southwest and South where it can be played most of the year.
Jeff P| 4.21.12 @ 11:58AM
Southwest? You have to be kidding. Due to the Hispanifcation of California and Arizona, soccer is the game of choice out here. Gotta look somewhere else for "America's Pastime".
Bob K.| 4.21.12 @ 7:38PM
I'm not kidding at all. Most of them from the SW playing now are US citizens and most of those are non-hispanic but there are going to be a lot more hispanics in the future. It is a demographic truth.
There have been quite a few Latin Americans in the Majors already. About 1000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.....in_America
Did Fernando Valenzuela play soccer?
Bill| 4.21.12 @ 12:19PM
And RedSox keep losing..........
Bob Grant| 4.21.12 @ 1:49PM
I watched the game and although I have no ties to the RedSox (emotional or otherwise), I'm fascinated with Fenway even though I've never had the privileged of attending a game. It, along with The "Gaaaaden" are/were at the top of my list of favorite sports venues.
Then, out of nowhere, Obama to ruin the moment by inserting himself in the festivities. I guess this non-baseball-fan of a president thinks he can gain cheap political points by doing so.
This d**chebag doesn't understand for the most part people attend sporting events to escape...this means ESCAPE POLITICS for a few hours.
...just another reason to despise this "man".
Bill| 4.21.12 @ 4:08PM
I love my Tropicana Field, I hate Fenway Park. Born and raised in FL.
Mike Daly | 4.23.12 @ 1:25PM
The Trop is far superior to Fenway.
Tarr| 4.21.12 @ 6:36PM
No mention here.....even the elitist Blues who attend Red Sox games booed a 10 second filmed message from Obuma.
Mike Daly | 4.23.12 @ 1:27PM
The best stadiums in New England -
Gillette Stadium.
The New Garden/Fleet Center
Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, RI
Verizon Center, Manchester, NH
Centrum/DCU Center, Worcester, MA
Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, ME
Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT