The Red Sox logo above is not the one you’re used to seeing, but on each ballpark page on this website I used the team logo that was in use when I first went to that ballpark. Being a native Bostonian, Fenway was obviously the first stop on my World Ballpark Tour. The logo above was the Red Sox logo from 1950-1959.
Bleachers for 50 cents. Plus tax. Today those tickets are $69 when the Sox are playing a good team, but only $14 when playing a crappy team.
Notice the price of an Opening Day Grandstand ticket in 1960. This was actually my second Opening Day as we had seen the Red Sox open in DC against the Washington Senators two years earlier. In this game, the feared and loathed New York Yankees beat the Red Sox 8-4, but I did get to see Mickey Mantle and (more importantly) Ted Williams homer. 1960 was the final year of his playing career. Yankees went on to lose the World Series to Pittsburgh that year. It was the famous Bill Mazeroski walkoff (although the term wasn’t used for another 28 years). The Sox went on to finish in 7th place, 32 games out…but ahead of the Kansas City A’s, who were 39 games out.
My first stop on my World Ballpark Tour was, naturally, the one author John Updike called “a lyric little bandbox of a ballpark.” Fenway Park opened in 1912 and the story did not make the front page of the Boston Globe because Titanic sank that day and the new ballpark got bumped to the sports page. Left field is shorter than in other ballparks because of Lansdowne Street. Back in 1912 there was no Eminent Domain for a privately built ballpark and you had to make it fit into the lot you owned. That’s why old ballparks had some crazy shapes. Fenway originally had a hill in left field – it was called Duffy’s Cliff because LF Duffy Lewis had to climb up it to catch a long fly ball. The hill, of course, was eventually replaced by what was just called The Wall when I was a kid but is now known as the Green Monster.
People think the dimensions at Fenway are small, but they’re only small in a couple of places. Down the left field line the Wall is 310′ (for years it said 315′, but that was subsequently proven inaccurate). 310″ sounds like a short porch for a home run, but remember that you have to hit the ball over the 37′ fence. Compare that to the original Yankee Stadium: 314′ down the right field line (that would be only two feet farther than left field at Fenway) and you had to clear an 8′ fence (that would be 29′ less than at Fenway). Down the right field line is the Pesky Pole, at 302′ the shortest home run in the majors. But you have to hit the ball right down the line and hope it passes the pole on the left. The fences immediately drop back to 380′ in front of the bullpen. Then there’s the triangle in center field, at the 420′ mark. The wall there is 17′. A home run over the center field wall at Fenway is the toughest to hit anywhere in the majors. The reason they have a triangle is that the the wall between the bullpens and the bleachers in right used to be the actual outfield wall. It was a 410′ drive to right. More than double what right field at Yankee Stadium was in the Babe Ruth days. The triangle happened in 1939 when they put bullpens in front of the right field bleachers so that rookie phenom Ted Williams could hit more home runs.
Fenway Park hosted the World Series in the Inaugural Year 1912 and again in 1914, 1916, 1918, 1946, 1967, 1975, 1986, 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018 (if you’re wondering why that list has 1914 but not 1915 go to the Braves Field, Boston page on this site and the story is revealed). I’ve been to 9 World Series games: Games 1 and 2 in 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018 and Game 6 in 2013 when they clinched at home for the first time since 1918. All were Rod Sox wins except Game 2 in 2013, so I’m 8 and 1. The All-Star Game was at Fenway in 1961 and 1999. I was at the 1999 game and saw the All-Century Team line the infield. Nola Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Mark McGwire, Mike Schmidt, Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken, Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr and Stan Musial. They all surrounded Ted Wiliams who rode in on a golf cart.
All these games were thrilling and memorable, but the most unbelievable I’ve seen were Games 4 and 5 of the 2004 ALCS. That’s when the Red Sox came back from being down 3 games to none and won four straight to sweep the Yankees and go on to win the World Series and reverse the Curse of the Bambino.
Everyone from Boston – and New York – knows this story, but if you’re from anywhere else, here’s a recap: The Red Sox and Yankees had been bitter rivals ever since Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees in 1919 because the Sox owner Harry Frazee needed money to fund his flop Broadway show “No, No, Nanette.” Over the next 86 years the Yankees won the World Series 26 times and the Red Sox lost it four times. In 1978 they were tied for 1st place at season’s end and had a one-game playoff. That one is known as the “Bucky Bleeping Dent” game. They met in the postseason again in the 1999 ALCS and New York won it in five games. They met again in the 2003 ALCS and it went to Game 7, with Boston leading by two runs in the 8th, when manager Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in too long when Pedro was clearly out of gas. New York tied it. The game remained tied until the 11th when Aaron Boone homered off Tim Wakefield and sent the Yankees to yet another World Series…their 6th in the last 8 years.
There was good news, though: The Yankees lost that series to the Florida Marlins. The following year, 2004, the Red Sox and Yankees met in the ALCS once again. Sox ace #1, Curt Schilling, lost Game 1 in the Bronx. Sox ace #2, Pedro Martinez, lost game #2 in the Bronx. After a travel day and a one-day rainout, Game 3 was held at Fenway on Saturday night. I went with my daughter Kara and it was a blowout. It was actually tied 6-6 after 3, but then New York piled it on and by the 7th inning stretch the Red Sox were down 17-6. We left early and got home in time for Saturday Night Live where they were making fun of how feeble the Red Sox looked in the playoffs. Remember, SNL is a New York show. The final score was 19-8 and Boston was down 3 games to none – a hole no team had ever crawled out of.
Sunday night was Game 4. I went with my daughter Caitlin. Police from all over were surrounding the ballpark: Staties, Boston, Cambridge, Newton, Brookline, Watertown…you name it. Inside it was electric with buzz. Packed. And with way too many Yankee fans looking for blood. As we worked our way to the seats – which was very slow going – I bumped into Larry David. I didn’t want to say something stupid like,”You’re Larry David” so I said something else stupid: “Larry David! Who are you rooting for, the San Diego Padres?” and he gave me one of those Larry David looks and said, “Why are you asking me that?” I was thinking of a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode. Much later that night I figured out that it was actually a “Sopranos” episode that I was remembering that had nothing to do with Larry David. Both shows aired on Sunday night on HBO, so that was my excuse.
Back to the game. In the 3rd, A Rod hit a two-run homer over the Green Monster that landed on Lansdowne Street. Someone on Lansdowne threw it back over the wall and it landed on the field. Johnny Damon (he was the Red Sox poster boy then) picked it up and threw it back over the wall, then someone threw it back on the field. Umpire Joe West finally had enough and pocketed the ball. In the 5th, Yankees pitcher Orlando Hernandez gave up three walks and two hits and Boston took the lead, 3-2. In the 6th, New York came back with two and the Yankees went back ahead, 4-3. Nothing happened the next 3 innings.
So New York is up 3 games to 0, and leading in the bottom of the 9th of game 4. In comes Yankees ace closer Mariano Rivera, now enshrined in the Hall of Fame, to nail it down. We’re about to get…swept…again.
But wait. Kevin Millar draws a walk, and Manager Terry Francona puts in pinch-runner Dave Roberts. Everyone in the park and watching on TV knows he’s going to try to steal second. Bill Mueller, last year’s AL Batting Champ, is up, but Rivera keeps throwing over to 1st trying to keep Roberts close. After the 4th throw over, Roberts dives back to 1st, then gets up and takes a few steps toward the dugout. From our vantage point in Section 29, it looked like Roberts had been picked off. I groaned and said to Caitlin, “He just got picked off. We’re toast.” But, no. Roberts was just brushing dirt off his pants. Then Roberts does steal 2nd – this became known as “The Steal of the Century” (even though the century was only four years old at the time). Then Rivera finally delivered a pitch to Mueller who singled up the middle and Roberts raced around the bases to tie the game! A blown save by Rivera. Wow. Did not expect that.
We go to the 10th. And the 11th. And the 12th. Bottom 12, Manny Ramirez singled and David Ortiz homered to send everyone – Boston fans, anyway – home late and tired. But happy.
The next night, Monday, was a 5PM start for Game 5 (it was supposed to be a travel day, but Friday had been a rainout). I went with my brother Hugh. Hugh and I once chased Ted Williams out of the hotel where we – and the Red Sox – were staying in DC. Check out that story on the Griffith Stadium page.
This one went longer. The Red Sox got 2 in the 1st, the Yankees got one back in the 2nd. Nothing across in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th. In the 6th, New York loaded the bases on two singles and a hit batter. Then Derek Jeter tripled to clear the bases and the Yankees took the lead, 4-2. In the 8th, an Ortiz homer and a Jason Varitek sac fly tied the game. Another blown save by Rivera. On it went to the 14th. Yes, the 14th. They actually did a 14th inning stretch in the middle. Plenty of scoring chances on both sides but nothing across until Ortiz doubled to drive in Damon with the winning run. Joe Buck‘s call was: “And Damon can keep on running to New York!” I only heard that later because Hugh and I sat there for all 14 innings scoring the game. Our scorebooks were messy because they have no place to put 14 innings.
Game 6 in New York was the famous Curt Schilling Bloody Sock game. His bloody sock is on display in Cooperstown. Then it was a 3-3 series and you know the rest.
There are too many things for me to say about Fenway on one page. I could write a book, but numerous people already have. I’ve been to Opening Day at Fenway in 1960, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996…okay, every year since we moved back to Boston with the exception of 1993 when I was at Camden Yards, Baltimore for the Inaugural Game. And not in 2020 because only a few cardboard fabs were allowed in.
My wife Kathy got me a special Father’s Day present in 2003…Season Tickets! It was great timing. That was when the 700-game sellout began.
My original seats were in Section 29, so I named my blog View From Section 29. In 2012 the Red Sox made the mistake of hiring Bobby Valentine to replace Terry Francona as manager despite that fact that “Tito” had won two World Series after the 86-year 1918-2004 drought. Bobby Valentine may have invented the wrap sandwich, but he was awful as manager and the 2012 Sox finished in last place. On October 1st I called up the Season Ticket Office and asked if they were getting tons of mad people calling in to cancel their seats for 2013…because, much as I loved being there, I wanted to get out of the old wooden grandstand seats which were designed for 1912-size butts and were really cramped with zero legroom. My daughter Kara, who is 6 feet tall and played 1st base in high school, had to sit at an angle. I told the ticket office I wanted a similar view, but closer and in the curved red seats with cupholders. They said they wouldn’t know about that until February.
On February 1st there was a front page story in the Boston Globe saying that season ticket sales at Fenway were off by 10%. I called up and they said, yes, they had a note about my call back in October. Was I near a computer? Really, who isn’t near some device these days. They showed me the interactive look at available seats and I could get aisle-end (with a railing, so no excuse-me’s from other fans heading to concessions) in Loge Box 155. I said I’m there. I didn’t change the name of my blog because View From Loge Box 155 sounds kind of highfalutin” and View From Section 29 sounds like a regular guy going to a ballgame and writing about it. In 2019 I changed again, just for variety, to seats in Loge Box 127 right behind the plate. Excellent, excellent view, on the aisle, and just a smidge under the overhang so a little drizzle is not an issue.
Games 1 and 2: Sunday, September 15, 1957. My parents took me to a double-header on my 9th birthday, which was 61 years earlier than the picture above. The Red Sox played the Tigers in a Sunday double-header and dropped both games. In Game 1 Jim Bunning won his 19th game. He’d go on to win 20 that year and throw a no-hitter against the Reds Sox the following summer. Years later he was inducted into the Hall of Fame (1996) and was elected a US Senator from Kentucky (1999). The Detroit lineup also included 1b Ray Boone, grandfather of Aaron Boone, who knocked the Red Sox out of the 2003 World Series and is now the Yankees manager. Ray Boone wrapped up his career with the Red Sox in 1960. Willard Nixon lost his 12th as the home team went down to defeat 7-1. 3B Frank Malzone had the only RBI for Boston.
Game 2 was closer – a 4-3 loss. Al Kaline homered for Detroit. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990. 1B Mickey Vernon played 1B and had a hit and an RBI. Later on, Mickey’s daughter Gay Vernon was my News Director at Magic 106.7 for 22 years.
Bottom row: Ellis Burks, Kara Kelley, Wade Boggs, Jody Reed.
My first year back in Boston, after living in New Hampshire, Florida, New York and Maryland, was 1990. In September that year Kathy and I took Caitlin and Kara to Fenway. At the bottom of the ramp that leads to Section 60 they had a cutout where you could pose for a pic with Sox players. One problem: two daughters, but only one cutout. Caitlin was dressed in a Sox hat, but Kara, who had just turned 3, was wearing a kid-size Orioles shirt. I thought that was appropriate, as Kara was born in Baltimore and I had been given the shirt by Don Aase, a neighbor and Orioles reliever who had just been traded. The interesting tidbit is that Aase came up with the Red Sox in 1977 and that winter was traded to the Angels in exchange for…(drum roll)…Jerry Remy. As you can see by her expression, Kara was not impressed.
First games: Tigers-Red Sox doubleheader on my birthday. Sox lost both. Many games since, including Opening Day 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019; 1990 ALCS playoff v. A’s; 1999 All-Star game; 1999 ALCS playoff v. Yankees (Pedro-Roger); 2003 playoffs (ALDS Games 1 and 2 v. Oakland, ALCS games 3, 4 and 5, Yankees), 2004 playoffs (Game 3 v. Angels in ALDS, Games 3 – horrible, 4 –unbelievable, and 5 –also unbelievable v. Yankees in ALCS), (Game 1 and 2 in World Series v. St. Louis); 2005 playoff v. Chicago (a loss); 2007 ALCS v. Cleveland, 2007 World Series v. Rockies Game 1 and 2), 2008 ALDS v. Angels, Game 2, , 2008 ALCS v. Tampa Bay Games 3, 4 and 5; 2009 ALDS v. Angels Game 3 (loss); 2013 ALDS, ALCS, World Series Games 1, 2, 6 (first home WS clinch since 1918); 2016 ALDS; 2017 ALDS; 2018 ALDS, ALCS, World Series Games 1, 2; Most games in the 90s and early 2000s I sat in Section 21, Row G, seats 6-9. On Father’s Day 2003 I got season tickets from Kathy. Section 29, Row 4, seats 11 and 12. In 2013 I switched to Loge Box 155, Row HH, seats 7 and 8. In 2016 I moved down to Row EE, and in 2019 I made the big move to behind home plate: Loge Box 127, Row KK, seats 6 and 7.
