A Virtual Tour of Fenway Park
A Virtual Tour of Fenway Park - A Brief History, Venue Details and Great Moments
Almost everyone has heard of Fenway Park but most people, unless they’re a Boston local, a baseball fan, or a historian, don’t really know that much about it.
They might only know the basics: it’s old, it’s in Boston, and it’s the Red Sox home field.
Fenway Park has been featured in several films, including Field of Dreams (1989), Good Will Hunting (1997), and Moneyball (2011). So even those who haven’t even been to Fenway may be at least somewhat familiar with it.
It is widely known for being one of the few remaining ‘old school’ ballparks in Major League Baseball.
But what else is there to know about this famous ballpark?
Where is Fenway Park?
Opened in 1911, Fenway Park is the oldest baseball field in the United States, and it is one of the oldest sports arenas in the US that is still in continuous, active use.
Called ‘Fenway’ as it was built in the Fenway neighbourhood of Boston, it was built upon the marshy wetlands of the Back Bay Fens that were drained in the late 19th century to make space for construction in the southwest end of the city.
Only a brisk 5-minute walk from Boston University, the field is easily accessed by taking the subway to Kenmore Square off the Green Line and is only a block away from the Kenmore T Station.
The capacity of Fenway Park
Fenway Park can currently seat approximately 37,300 visitors, making it almost the smallest Major League baseball field in the US.
That being said there have been times in history when it permitted more attendees for certain events, and the record number of tickets sold for Fenway Park is 47,627 (in this case for a pro-Irish Independence rally in 1919).
That’s not to say that Fenway hasn’t seen low times, as in the 1960s the Red Sox performed poorly, and attendance was as low as 500 spectators at times.
A Tour of Fenway Park
Unique Features of Fenway Park
Fenway Park is unique in many ways because of its similar height and architecture to the surrounding buildings, and so it blends in very well.
The layout of the outfield is also unusually shaped. This is because Fenway Park, like Wrigley Field, another very old MLB field, was built during a time when it was seen as more practical to fit buildings into the limited space available rather than demolish adjacent buildings.
Consequently, the design of the field is exceptionally asymmetrical, especially when compared to much more recently built MLB fields, or really almost any modern sports stadium.
Because of Fenway Park’s age, it has undergone a fair amount of cosmetic remodelling and necessary reconstruction over the years.
An interesting side effect of this is that it has some very unique architectural features compared to the majority of fields. Other fields have a very “cookie-cutter” feel as property owners wanted to build new fields according to a very specific set of standards about field size that either didn’t exist in 1912 when Fenway Park was built or was simply not followed in those days.
One notable example demonstrating this uncustomary field design is “The Triangle”, a narrow-shaped right angle cut in the centre field making the distance from the home plate to the centre-field wall 420 feet rather than the conventional 390 feet.
Just adjacent to this is the left-field wall locally called the “Green Monster” because of its green colour and height of 37 ft 2 in. This wall is also unusually close to the home plate at only around 310 feet away, giving an extra boost to right-handed hitters.
Famous Events in Sports History at Fenway Park
Tony Conigliaro takes one to the face
On the morning of August 18th 1967, Tony Conigliaro was a young up-and-coming baseball star, but by the end of the day, his career was doomed.
Batting against Jack Hamilton of the California Angels (known now as the Los Angeles Angels), he was on the receiving end of a too-close inside pitch that struck him across the left cheek, dislocating his jaw and permanently damaging his left eye.
He did recover and returned to baseball in 1969, but from then on Tony C was never the same. Within only a few years, he quickly declined from hitting roughly 20-30 home runs per year to only 2 or 3. If he hadn’t been hit by the ball who knows what his career could’ve been.
The 2004 Red Sox Yankees Fight
One of the most notoriously violent brawls between baseball teams happened on July 24th 2004 in Fenway Park.
The Red Sox were playing the New York Yankees in their second of a three-game series. In the first game, the Sox had lost, and it was starting to look like the Sox might lose again. Things were getting increasingly tense.
When the Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo struck Alex Rodriguez in the arm with the ball, things got out of control. Rodriguez could be clearly seen shouting curses at Arroyo, which lead to an altercation between them.
Almost immediately both teams were running in from the field and the dugout to break up the fight, but instead of stopping the fight within 15 seconds it only began to spin off other fights between players, leaving a couple of them bruised and bloody.
Varitek and A-Rod fight at Fenway Park.
Jon Lester pitches a Perfect No-Hitter - 2008
A fairy-tale moment for Jon Lester and Red Sox Nation.
On May 19th 2008, the Red Sox were facing the Kansas City Royals, and Jon Lester was pitching for the home team. Lester was showing significant career promise when he joined the team in 2006, but shortly afterwards he was unfortunately diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
During this time, Lester continued to play while fighting the disease. This game was definitely a very meaningful moment in his life, and also for his family, friends, and fans when he pitched a perfect no-hitter.
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