The ultimate guide to Fenway Park (2024)

It looks increasingly unlikely that the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox will make the postseason in 2019. But there’s still plenty of time this summer to catch the team on their home diamond. And, who knows? Maybe there’ll be games after September.

Key names in 2019

Alex Cora: Cora was formally introduced as the Sox’s 47th manager during a press conference in—where else?—Fenway Park in November 2017. His last coaching job before was with the Houston Astros. Cora played on the Sox’s 2007 World Series team.

Xander Bogaerts: The short stop and third baseman had a solid season last year, and reached deal with the Sox in 2019 for several more years with the team.

Jackie Bradley Jr.: The center-fielder is also one of the Sox’s best hitters

Mookie Betts: Betts was last year’s American League most valuable player.

Dustin Pedroia: Injuries have sidelined the second baseman for much of the season, and it’s unclear if he’ll ever return to active play.

David Price: The left-hander delivered in 2018.

Chris Sale: He’s Price’s fellow left-hander.

Rick Porcello: And on the right ...

(Here is the Red Sox’s current active roster.)

John Henry: The businessman has been the principal owner of the Red Sox since 2002. He also owns The Boston Globe and the Liverpool Football Club in the U.K. Henry’s fellow Sox owners include Larry Lucchino and Tom Werner, both of whom have minority stakes (much as Henry once did in the archrival New York Yankees).

Jerry Remy and Dave O’Brien: The pair handle color commentary and play-by-play, respectively, for New England Sports Network (NESN), which broadcasts nearly all Red Sox games. Remy played for the Sox in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Dennis Eckersley provides regular analysis during games.

Joe Castiglione: Castiglione is the longtime broadcaster for Red Sox radio (a.k.a. WEEI), and has been doing the color commentary since the early 1980s. He has been paired this season with a rotating cast of on-air partners. (The same corporate umbrella that covers Fenway Park and the Red Sox covers WEEI.)

Uri Berenguer: Berenguer does the play-by-play for the Red Sox’s Spanish broadcast. He got interested in the trade after meeting Castiglione.

Wally and Tessie the Green Monsters: The pair are the Sox’s official mascots. The siblings’ surname springs from the nickname of Fenway’s famed left-field wall. You can book them for your next event or to have them visit you in Fenway during games.

Nicknames and quirks

The Green Monster is a 37.167-foot wall that was part of the ballpark’s original 1911-1912 construction, though it wasn’t painted green until 1947 and wasn’t covered in hard plastic until 1976.

There is a lone red seat in the right field bleachers—Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21—that commemorates the longest homer ever hit at Fenway: A 502-foot dinger by Ted Williams on June 9, 1946.
Pesky’s Pole on the right-field foul line is named for former Red Sox Johnny Pesky, who hit his six homers at Fenway around the pole but never off it.
Pudge’s Pole on the left-field foul line is named for former Red Sox Carlton “Pudge” Fisk. Fisk’s hit off the pole in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series sent the contest to a seventh game—and gave baseball one of its most iconic images (or series of images, with Fisk seeming to direct the ball’s path).

Getting there

The single, easiest way to get to Fenway Park is via public transportation.

Take either the Green Line to Fenway Station or Kenmore Station, or the commuter rail to the Yawkey stop. Use the MBTA’s trip planner. Pro tip: Buy a roundtrip ticket if you’re looking to make a quick exit.

As far as driving, the main thing to know is that parking is at a headache-y premium in the surrounding neighborhood (which, incidentally, is also known as Fenway). There are several lots and garages off Brookline Avenue and Lansdowne Street, but a spot for a game can start at more than $20 and run way up from there.

Songs to know

The tradition of singing Neil Diamond’s 1968 hit “Sweet Caroline” during Fenway Park games dates from 1997. It is now belted out in the middle of the eighth. Some fans love it, some hate it. Let the hurting run off your shoulder...

The singer himself sang it at the park in 2013, after the Boston Marathon terrorist attack. (And Diamond disclosed in 2007 that he named the song after Caroline Kennedy, JFK’s daughter and ambassador to Japan under President Barack Obama.)

When the Red Sox score a run, the PA plays “Go” from dance-electronica trio Avancada.
When the Sox win, expect to hear three tunes in a row from the PA: The Standells’ 1966 hit “Dirty Water,” the Dropkick Murphys’ “Tessie”—pretty much the team’s unofficial anthem since 2005—and Three Dog Night’s 1970 hit “Joy to the World.”
When they lose, you’ll probably just hear “Dirty Water.”

Where to sit

If money is no object, then Field Boxes 21 through 76 are your best bets for fantastic seats at Fenway. Just behind these are Loge Box Sections 108 through 152—also a great bet, and a tad less expensive.

If you’re looking for a deal on tickets and don’t subscribe to the axiom that hell is other people, then the Upper Bleachers and the Standing Room areas behind left field are just the things. They are exactly what they sound like, though.

More on seating and pricing here. And this handy website can provide a sense of which seats and sections will encounter obstructed views.

A final thought on seating at Fenway: It’s one of the smallest ballparks in Major League Baseball, so choice views are relatively easy to come by.

Stuff for the kids

Probably the two biggest attractions at Fenway Park for kids are the Kids Concourse and Wally’s Clubhouse.

Where to eat and drink

As you might expect, there is plenty to eat and to drink in Fenway Park, though it’ll cost ya. Eater Boston has the definitive dining and drinking guide to the arena, including its Big Concourse where most of the concessions are located.

Pro tip: Save some money, and carbo-load before the game with this guide to eats and drinks around the ballpark.

Trivia

There are two meta-features that make Fenway Park unique in Major League Baseball: Its age and its size.

First, the age: Fenway is the oldest park in MLB.

It all started in 1911, when then-team owner John Taylor went looking for a site for a new stadium and found it in what was then the rather remote, even slightly rural Fenway neighborhood of Boston (a city still expanding at the time through annexations).

The franchise had played the past 10 years at what are now the athletic facilities for Northeastern University. It was outgrowing that space—and, besides, Taylor was thinking of selling the team and knew a new ballpark would make the Sox that much more attractive.

He and a group of investors acquired Fenway’s future site at a public auction in June 1911 (Taylor sold his controlling interest in the Sox about three months later).

The stadium was largely finished by spring 1912. The first game there was an exhibition contest between the Sox and the team from Harvard College on April 9, 1912. The first official game was April 20, 1912—a 7-6 Red Sox win over the New York Highlanders (who would change their name to the Yankees the following year).

Boston Mayor John ‘Honey Fitz’ Fitzgerald, maternal grandfather of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, tossed out the first ceremonial pitch before a crowd of 27,000.

Curiously, the Detroit Tigers hosted their first official game in a new stadium on April 20, 1912 as well. When that ballpark, Tiger Stadium, was demolished in 2009, Fenway Park became indisputably MLB’s oldest.

Now, to the size.

Many fans know that Fenway Park is one of the smallest arenas in Major League Baseball, with a nighttime capacity of 37,673 and a daytime one of 37,221. Only the home diamonds in Miami, Cleveland, and Tampa are tinier.

At 9 acres, too, Fenway is one of the slenderer footprints in baseball, with perhaps only the 8.5-acre Target Field in Minnesota smaller.

Even Red Sox diehards, however, may not know Fenway’s true shallowness; or the sheer skimpiness of the outfield wall; or the other ways America’s oldest pro ballpark falls short.

Shallowest right-field line: Fenway Park has the shallowest outfield wall in Major League Baseball—302 feet down the right-field line.
Shallowest left-field line: Fenway again, this time with 310 feet to the Green Monster.
Shallowest outfield: See above bullet points. It’s pretty much the same stat, but you know how that one fan you know argues.
Shortest distance to center field: To dead center, it’s 390 feet. And yet Fenway is not considered particularly fertile ground for home-run hitters.
Shortest outfield wall: Yes, there is the Green Monster. The left-field behemoth is the tallest outfield wall in MLB. But! Over on the right side, near the bullpens, the wall dips to as low as 3 feet.

Accessibility: What to know

Fenway Park provides numerous aids to fans with physical challenges. Some key ones, according to the Red Sox’s official site:

Wheelchair spaces are located in the Grandstand, Bleacher, Green Monster, Right Field Roof Deck, Loge Box, Field Box, Infield and Right Field Roof Box, State Street Pavilion Club, and Dell/EMC Club.
Seating for those with hearing impairments is located in the Loge Box and Right Field Box areas with a clear view of the ballpark’s video boards.
Seating for people with visual impairments is located in the Field Box, Loge Box, and Grandstand areas.
Seating for people with ambulatory impairments is located in the Grandstand, Right Field Box, and Bleacher areas.
As far as parking near the stadium, like parking in general, parking designed to accommodate those with physical challenges is extremely limited. The majority of metered handicapped spaces are located on Yawkey Way between Van Ness and Boylston streets, according to the Red Sox.
Both the Fenway stop on the Green Line and the Yawkey stop on the commuter rail are handicap-accessible.
Service animals are allowed at Fenway Park, and those with them should enter through Gate D. Know this: There is no designated area in the ballpark for animals to relieve themselves; but they and their owners are allowed to exit and re-enter Fenway through Gate D for free.
Fenway’s mobility assistance team can be reached at 617.226.6222.

What’s new and what’s going to be new

First, three big changes debuted in 2018.

One was a run of field-green safety netting that now extends beyond the dugouts nearly to the foul lines. The 12-foot-high netting is designed to protect fans from foul balls, flying bats, etc., and is part of a larger league safety initiative.

Another big change—and probably more noticeable as it wasn’t designed to blend in with the surroundings—was a new seating area called the Jim Beam Dugout (brought to you by bourbon!). It’s next to the photographers’ pit alongside the Red Sox dugout. The 25 fans there can basically pull up a stool and see the game as the players do.

And, given that Sam Adams has become Fenway’s official beer, replacing Budweiser, a new 74-foot neon Samuel Adams sign now looms from the right-field roof deck (which, conveniently enough, is now the “Sam Deck” with a craft beer concession).

One final note: The game-day pedestrian stretch next to the ballpark has been renamed Jersey Street from Yawkey Way.

Now, as for the future, the Sox have big plans for their home.

In December 2018, the team’s ownership proposed adding an area behind the legendary bleachers section for concessions, restrooms, and “other elements designed to enhance the fan experience,” according to a filing with the Boston Planning & Development Agency.

The franchise also wants to create a room with “sweeping views” of America’s oldest ballpark for hosting large groups for private events.

And the renovations would include modifying existing space to connect some of the ballpark with a proposed 5,400-seat performance space called Fenway Theater—which would be Boston’s largest indoor music venue.

That project is proposed for a triangular site behind the bleachers section between Lansdowne and Ipswich streets, and would bring its own structural changes to that area, which is utilized for mail, concessions, the ground crew, and other uses.

There’s no timeline on these latest proposed changes, but construction on the theater and related changes could start in the fall of 2019, after the current season.