I told you guys back in April that I was going to see
Fenway this summer, and by golly, I did. I ran across South Station to make my train out there (something I haven't had to do since I moved from DC), lugged my suitcase in the rain across a gravelly parking lot, and nearly got hit by a car trying to rush and get my ticket for the last tour of the Friday I was in Boston. See, unlike Wrigley Field (the second oldest ball park in America), Fenway (THE oldest ball park in America) does not let you purchase tour tickets ahead of time. It's first come first serve, and you HAVE to buy your tickets no later than 15 minutes before the start of your specified tour. I was cutting it super close with my train not arriving to Yawkey Station (which is across the street from the park) until 4:41, four minutes shy of missing the 5:00 (and final!) tour of they day!
 |
| Fenway Park on Yawkey Way |
So, to update you guys a little bit about my utter lack of baseball knowledge, I know a teeny bit more than when I went to Wrigley. Namely, as of today (8/1/2013 when I'm actually typing this up to schedule for a later publishing date) my hometown
Pirates are number three in all of baseball (one slot above the Boston Red Sox) and are playing the best they have in 20 years. This means our local news media, which normally brisks past Pirates news and focuses on our more reliable Steelers and *cough* Penguins has actually been focusing on Pittsburgh baseball and it's history and what it all means for those of us (like me) who have no clue.
The tour starts off in the team store across the street. Whereas the Wrigley tour guides were friendly and enthusiastic, the Fenway guides started off a bit stand offish while getting themselves organized but cranked it up 300% once we began our journey inside the facility. They were obvious Red Sox fans (or really good actors) and had me ready to cheer for the team and they weren't even playing that day! We learned about the first ever victory in Fenway (versus the Red Sox's heated rival the New York Yankees who were then called the New York Highlanders) and about the historic significance of the teeny tiny wooden Grandstand seats, Pesky's Pole, the Lone Red Seat where some poor guy got molly whopped by a ball hit by Ted Williams in 1946, and about the Morse code in the scoreboard that spell the initials of former owner Tom Yawkey and his wife.
 |
| View of Fenway from the Grandstand seats |
All of these parts had interesting stories to go with them, but the most famous piece of the park is easily The Green Monster, located on left field. A 37+ foot high wall, we were told it was erected when Tom Yawkey saw people watching his games for free from rooftops across the street and built "the biggest overreaction in sports history" to keep it from happening. They Red Sox have a mascot named Wally (who is a green monster- get it?) and the Monster has a ton of quirks that make it special to the stadium. Such as a ladder in the middle of it that no other ball park has (or can build), and again, the Morse code message in the manual scoreboard that takes up its lower interior.
 |
| View from the Green Monster. Seats weren't added until 2003 |
I had to leave the tour shortly after we entered the press box- moving 70-some people around can be a bit slow and I had to make sure I got back to South Station on time to catch my bus to Springfield. We didn't get to see the players lockers rooms (though we did see the visiting team's facilities), and I asked if the dugout would be a stop and was told that it would not be. You don't get to go on the field either. But that's okay, I was there for more than an hour and can say I've seen America's two oldest ball parks. Luckily Boston isn't trying to do away with their old field the way Chicago is. I think it's pretty cool that there are at least two teams playing in a traditional baseball park in this country.
 |
| The Fenway Press Box |
Thank you so much for reading my blog, and for following me on my adventures across the 50 states! With this being August, I am two years into my five year goal and 25% finished as far as locations (by the time you read this I'll be packing up for Washington and Alaska, bringing my total states to 13 out of 52- don't forget DC and Puerto Rico!)
 |
| Apparently Mickey Mouse is a fan too... |
