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Fenway Park Tour
Tours of Fenway Park are a great chance to not only step onto the hallowed ground of Fenway's dugout and warning track, but also get an up-close, behind-the-scenes look at parts of the park that are normally off-limits to fans. The first time I took the tour was in 1999 and featured the dugout, a walk around the warning track, a luxury box, the 600 Club, and the press box. Beginning in 2003, tours are given seven days a week from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm or three hours before game time. I went at 10:00 on the day of a 1:00 game, so the field and dugout were off-limits. (To go on the field, go between 9 am and noon on an off-day or a day with a 7 pm game.) This time I got to see the 600 Club, the Hall of Fame Club, and the Green Monster seats. My pictures from both years are below.
The first picture shows the plaque on Yawkey Way that reads, "NEW FENWAY PARK. BUILT 1912, RECONSTRUCTED 1934. BOSTON AMERICAN LEAGUE BASEBALL COMPANY. THOMAS A. YAWKEY, PRESIDENT." The tours begin with a brief history of Fenway Park - from the first game against the New York Highlanders, to the construction of the Green Monster, to the 1975 World Series, to the present. We were then allowed to step onto the field (although we were asked to stay off the grass!) Our first stop was the dugout. The view, as shown above, is amazing!
| Our next stop on our trip around the warning track was Pesky's Pole, the right field foul pole named for the old-time Red Sox shortstop. The pole is only 302 feet from home plate, and the story goes that Sox pitcher Mel Parnell used to joke that the only way Johnny Pesky could hit one out of the park was if he hit it off the pole.
Right field gets deep quickly, reaching 380 feet at its deepest point. |
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Next came the bullpens, which were added in 1940, and gave Ted Williams closer fences to aim for. Since he hit so many home runs into the bullpens, some of the local journalists at the time used to refer to it as Williamsburg.
This picture shows the Red Sox bullpen. Just beyond the bullpen, in straightaway center, is the area called "the triangle" because of the angle of the walls. It's 420 feet from home plate, the deepest part of the field.
For more pictures, please go on toPage 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5
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