Stadium Reflections: My Experience at Fenway Park

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Baseball Reflections reader may have noticed the stadium reviews that have been featured on the site recently. While it might be a good idea to review Fenway Park, it’s so well known that we considered it would just be better if there were a few personal perspectives on the stadium. My first, and so far only, trip to Fenway was during the 2004 season (Isn’t it interesting that the Red Sox had gone all those years without a World Series championship until I walked through the gates? I’m not saying I was the answer, but I’m not discrediting my involvement either).

Image via Wikipedia

My father and I found our way to Fenway to see the Sox take on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (as they were still called back then) by walking out of our hotel in downtown Boston and following the first people who walked by with Red Sox apparel on, just hoping that they were headed towards the stadium. Fortunately for us, they were and we were soon greeted with a baseball atmosphere many blocks from the stadium that was unlike any I had ever experienced. There were more individual scalpers for that single game than some teams have for an entire season. The majority of the people

were dressed from head to toe in Red Sox gear and were already partying even though the game was an hour away. There were also many stands outside of the park selling shirts that said things about Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter that would be inappropriate to reprint on this site.

With the game obviously sold out, we were looking for the scalper that would take the least of our money. This task is much harder than it sounds. A word to the wise: when looking to scalp some tickets do it as far away from the stadium as possible, because, as we found out, the closer one gets to the stadium, the higher the prices get as well.

After much negotiation, we were finally able to find one scalper who would sell us two tickets for $50 a piece. Once the tickets were handed over, we noticed we had overpaid $33 per ticket, but it was the experience that counted. Right?

After making our way through the crazed Fenway Faithful and into the stadium, we were simply overwhelmed by the atmosphere. While it’s no secret why these old ballparks haven’t lasted across the country for reasons such as polls blocking ones view in parts of the stadium and no traditional concourse, it’s a great thing to still have one of these historic parks around.

Once we finally made it to our seats, we found that we were in the absolute last row of the bleachers in right field. At most stadiums, this would not provide one of the best views of the ballpark, but in Fenway, we couldn’t have asked for anything more. If Fenway looks picture perfect on the television, it’s even more so in person as it almost felt unreal to be in the park that I had seen and heard so much about.

Image by gregsfotos via Flickr

Even though there is no concourse as the newer stadiums have come to have, there is still a concourse underneath the seats that is very welcoming to fans. Due to the passion that Red Sox fans have, the emotion of the in stadium atmosphere carries into that part of the stadium and even though one cannot see the field from there, they do not lose any of the nostalgia that they may have been feeling.

Some cities don’t even show as much passion when their team makes the playoffs as the Sox fans did during a mid-season game against the laughing stock of the league.

Even though I have more of a personal connection to a few other ballparks, this is one that I would more than willingly visit again. A trip to Fenway is truly a must for anyone who considers themselves to be a serious baseball fan. Even though tickets are pricey, the experience is one that will stay with any baseball traditionalist for the rest of their lives.

It is truly sad to consider that there is some day going to come a point when Fenway will see its last game, but the Red Sox organization has done an amazing part in renovating the ballpark to keep that day as far away as possible.

Bill Jordan is a contributor to BaseballReflections.com. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].