Boston Travel and Vacations Guide

New England Baseball Stadium Travel Destinations

The Magic Behind Fenway Park, Boston, MA

The Green Monster, the cozy feel, cramped limited seating, interesting nooks and crannies, famed summertime bleachers and Boston accents help make Fenway Park a one-of-a-kind stadium

by Eric H., VisitingNewEngland.com

A vacation in New England requires a visit to the legendary Fenway Park in Boston, MA. If a baseball park were to be rated on charm alone, Fenway Park would rank as one of the best baseball stadiums in Major League Baseball.

Through the years, Boston Red Sox fans have known Fenway Park as an ancient charmer in a modern, state-of-the-art world. The pastoral, beautiful symmetry of the game has always looked good at Fenway, and always will -- enhanced by the charismatic 37-foot high Green Monster scoreboard, the esteemed Citgo sign behind the stadium, seats intimately close to the well-manicured field, thick Boston accents, hot dogs, too much beer, and stentorian locals having a complete knowledge of who played here (from anomolies like Mike Garmen and Kevin Romano to fan favorites like Johnny Pesky and Luis Tiant). They know who ruined our "summahs" -- Bucky Dent and Bill Buckner (even though it was technically fall), and they know who the "phonies" were ( most recently, Pedro Martinez, who left a World Series winner so he could earn more money for the mediocre New York Mets). Now we have a revitalized team and management (Theo Epstein, maker of some great deals and a few bad ones) with two World Series rings (2004 and 2007) that is talented, competitive and entertaining ("Dice-K" fever, Jonathan Papelbon, Jacoby Ellsbury, Josh Beckett, etc.). With the New York Yankees going through a mide-life crisis and injuries in 20078, you can be sure that the Boston Red Sox will be in the thick of things and hopefully won't break our hearts later in the year.

Fenway Park has a beloved downside with cramped, slightly uncomfortable seats (and not enough of them at around 34,000), restroom facilities that once prompted me to run across the street in between innings to the now defunct Aku Aku Chinese restaurant to use spotless restrooms, a mediocre concession stand (miuch improved recently, however), and, overall, a worn out, old comfortable shoe feel that sometimes looks more inviting from the comfort of the living room. We always return, however, as the living room is built for, as mentioned, comfort and Fenway Park for discomfort -- the latter of which New Englanders prefer (along with bad weather, high taxes, astronomical real estate costs, elevated diesel emissions, even more elevated college tuition, and one way city streets never quite getting you to your intended destination). In all fairness, renovations and expansion have been made in the past few years to make things more comfortable, but we're still not talking about one of those modern ballparks with all the bells and whistles -- it is still an old ball park, but a charming one-of-a-kind one, at that.

No matter who has been in the Boston Red Sox lineup, it has ultimately been the fans historically serving as the city's baseball catalyst since 1912. Fenway Park fans have kept the Boston Red Sox in business by not only paying for their tickets en route to traditionally sold out games, but by also creating the spirit behind the team that had, until recently, not won a World Series since 1918 (and in the process, beating the arch rival New York Yankees in dramatic fashion in the American League Championship finals). We've heard the fervor in the stands, in the streets, on the radio and sometimes from the living room through the open windows and into the neighborhood.

Fenway Park cannot be measured by modern amenities -- not by a tape-measured longshot. All is has going for it are the people. The fans in other cities with modern ballparks just have that, the modern ballpark -- no soul, no screaming, no yelling, no cheering, no signs of life. It is like going to a Michael Bolton concert where, as we all know, there are simply no memories in the making.

Everyone has a memory or two of Fenway Park. To be a kid and watch a game at Fenway Park was one of the true highlights of my childhood. My favorite memories include the time Baltimore Oriole first baseman Boog Powell almost took my life with a foul ball rocket over my seven-year-old head. Tony Oliva, the Minnsesota Twins star outfielder, once let go of his bat accidently while swinging and almost had the same effect on me as Boog Powell. Then there was the time when the crowd yelled in unison "We want a hit," while my lone, meek little eight-year-old voice followed with "We want a hot dog." Families laughed, drunks laughed, drunk families laughed.

Then there's the bleachers, which seemed to formerly accommodate leather-lunged fans with no limits on their limited profane vocabulary -- as well as women in  inappropriate clothing who loved these men.  Now, it's a bit more family-friendly with more civil behavior overall, pink baseball caps, and what seems like one big happy family singing along with Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" on the speakers (a new Fenway Park tradition). Whatever the behavior, there's always been a classic summertime feel to paying less for a ticket and enjoying our beloved team from far away in the stadium.

The Fenway Park tours are great, too! Knowledgable, often humorous locals take you all over Fenway Park at a fair rate to inform and entertain on its fascinating history and details on the unique nature of the park and it recent upgrades. It's really the next best thing to watching a game and we look forward to going on the tours as a yearly summer vacation tradition.

We may lose Fenway Park someday to a Camden Yards-type model, possibly in South Boston. So far, politics has kept that from happening -- this is one good example of red tape preserving our memories. Many New Englanders wouldn't mind a new stadium, however. as they are smart enough to know history begins the day something new happens. For the rest of us, however, Fenway Park will do just fine. Sometimes feelings overrule logic, and although a new stadium would be nice, the "Fenway magic" has a spell on us that won't ever go away. After all, that is the New England way of thinking.

Related article: McCoy Stadium, home of the Pawtucket Red Sox, swings for the fences when it comes to old-fashioned fun, family-friendly baseball

Related VisitingNewEngland.com baseball links:

Purchase Boston Red Sox Baseball tickets

Enjoying Fenway Park tours

Catching a Pawtucket Red Sox game at McCoy Stadium

Related offsite links:

VisitingCooperstown.com -- The travel site for Cooperstown, NY - includes information on the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum!

Cooperstown for Kids -- Where parents and children can plan together their Cooperstown, NY, vacation. Includes information on the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Abner Doubleday Field, and Doubleday Batting Range and family Cooperstown travel and funny baseball cartoon videos (Disney, Tex Avery cartoons)!