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Fenway Park Experience
Boston, MA - 7/279/2002
by: Anthony Lorenzo

“Oh I love that dirty water, Boston you’re my home!”  Fenway Park, named after the Fens wetlands the ballpark was built in, has been home to the Boston Red Sox since April 20, 1912.  Over the past 93 seasons Fenway Park and the Red Sox have been a staple in the New England culture. Generations of fans have packed Fenway Park, finishing 4^th in attendance the past 3 seasons, despite the fact that Fenway has the lowest seating capacity, in the American League. After spending a day at Fenway Park, with Mike and our friend Matt, I came to the conclusion that baseball in Boston is more than a game; it is a way of life.

If you arrive at Fenway Park just for a Red Sox game your missing out on the best pregame scene in Major League Baseball.  The Red Sox close off the streets surrounding the ballpark and turn Yawkey Way and Van Ness Street into a Block Party, 81 times a year!  Besides the dozens of memorabilia shops and bars there are local vendors serving some of the best food New England has to offer, the sausage and peppers grinder is awesome.  Mike, Matt and I walked around the Fenway Park area for two hours prior to entering the ballpark.  The day’s game was an unusual 5:05 start time between the hometown Sox and their division rivals, the Baltimore Orioles.  Matt was able to purchase three great seats in the grandstand section behind the Sox dugout.  The seats at Fenway are as close to the field as any other in baseball, they are also the oldest.  You feel like your part of the action!  Even the Green Monster, built in 1947, seemed closer than 310 feet it stands from home plate, some say it is. The 33,474 in attendance where treated to a 2 hour and 22 minute game.  Red Sox starting pitcher John Burkett pitched a complete game 4 hitter and fan favorite Lou Merloni hit a home run to propel the Red Sox to a 4-0 win against the Orioles.  

After the game Matt showed Mike and I around the great city of Boston.  We visited Quincy Market and The Bull and Finch Pub, which is the pub Cheers is based on.  Seeing a new city is fun, but doing it with a local is even better.  Matt knew all the shortcuts in town.  Matt has always been a part of Red Sox Nation, going to school in New York; a few train stops away from Yankee Stadium must have been tough. 

This essay on Fenway Park and Boston is probably going to be the shortest one I write.  Not because I did not have a great time, not because I was there a short time, but because to read about Fenway Park and the Red Sox Nation is nothing like experiencing it.  Reading books about the Sox and watching the games on NESN cannot compare to walking from the Prudential Center to Fenway “Pahk” or touching the Green “Monsta”.  Boston Red Sox fans are the best in baseball, their loyalty and passion is second to none. Being a baseball fan in New York is an entirely different experience, because there are baseball fans from all over the country that bring their allegiances with them.  In Boston there are no other choices.  Being a part of Red Sox Nation is a greater responsibility than following the Red Sox; it is a culture that brings New England together forming the dynasty of sports fan.

PS: Since visiting Fenway Park, the Red Sox have enjoyed their greatest season ever.  Winning the World Series in October of 2004.  It was the Red Sox first World Series Championship since 1918.  As if winning a World Series for the first time in 86 years isn’t news enough, how they accomplished it made it even more special: coming behind from a 3 game to none deficit to defeat their arch rivals, the New York Yankees.

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