| Fenway Park |
 |
| Facility Statistics |
| Location | 4 Yawkey Way
Boston, Massachusetts 02215 |
| Broke Ground | 1911 |
| Opened | April 20, 1912 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Owner | Boston Red Sox |
| Construction Cost | $650,000 USD |
| Architect | Osborn Engineering |
| Tenants |
| Boston Red Sox | 1912-present |
| Boston Patriots | 1963-1967 |
| Boston Redskins | 1933-1936 |
| Boston Yanks | 1944-1948 |
| Seating Capacity |
| 1912 | 35,000 |
| 1953 | 34,824 |
| 1965 | 33,524 |
| 1977 | 33,513 |
| 1989 | 34,182 |
| 1993 | 34,218 |
| 2001 (day games) | 33,557 |
| 2001 (night games) | 33,993 |
| 2003 | 33,871 |
| Dimensions |
| Left Field | 310 ft / 94.5 m |
| Left-Center | 379 ft / 115.5 m |
| Center Field | 390 ft / 119 m |
| Center Field (deep) | 420 ft / 128 m |
| Right-Center | 380 ft / 116 m |
| Right Field | 302 ft / 92 m |
| Backstop | 60 ft / 18 m |
Fenway Park is the home stadium 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.
The stadium is most famous for the "Green Monster", the imposing, 37-foot-(11-meter)-tall left field wall, only 310 feet (94.5 meters) from home plate down the left field line. From 1912 to 1933, there was a 10-foot-(3 meter)-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 centerfield flag pole. As a result of the mound, a left fielder in Fenway Park had to play the entire territory running uphill. Boston's first star left fielder, Duffy Lewis, mastered the skill so well that the area became known as Duffy's Cliff. In 1934, Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey arranged to flatten the ground in left field so that Duffy's Cliff no longer existed and became part of the lore of Fenway Park.
Other notable features include "The Triangle", a region of center field where the walls form a triangle 420 feet (128 meters) from home plate, "Pesky's Pole" — the foul pole down a shallow right field line named for Johnny Pesky a light-hitting shortstop when he once wrapped a homer around it, and the lone red seat in the right field bleachers (Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21). The seat 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. The blast was measured at 502 feet (153 meters). The power alleys are 379 feet (115.5 meters) from home plate in left field and 380 feet (116 meters) from home plate in right.
Fenway is known as a hitter's ballpark, especially during July and August when the wind blows out to left field, carrying balls up to and over the Green Monster. However, the 1990 expansion of the press box had the unintended effect of blocking these winds somewhat. As a result, the park has been less hitter-friendly since then.
The park holds approximately 34,000 spectators. This number has increased over the years as seats have been added in what was once foul ground and throughout the upper decks, and most recently on top of the Green Monster and atop the right field wall. Some people have proposed increasing the seating capacity by up to 10,000 more seats through the expansion of upper decks, while others have proposed tearing down the stadium and rebuilding a similar one nearby.
The National Football League's Boston Redskins played at Fenway from 1933 to 1936. The American Football League's Boston Patriots played at Fenway from 1963 to 1968.
External links
- Boston Ballpark History (http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/bos/ballpark/bos_ballpark_history.jsp). MLB.com.
- Satellite photo (http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=10&x=1636&y=23451&z=19&w=2)
- Live WebCam (http://www.instacam.com/showcam.asp?id=FENWY&size=L)
- Maps and aerial photos
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