Lucchino: Fenway Should Last Another 40-50 Years

[Dojji]

Pity there's no way to build a new park while also keeping Fenway operational. I had this fantasy scenario where they build a new ballpark that can seat more people more comfortably but at the same time they schedule a few home games as Fenway games and still play all their playoff games there.

[Cocos Disciples]

Pity there's no way to build a new park while also keeping Fenway operational. I had this fantasy scenario where they build a new ballpark that can seat more people more comfortably but at the same time they schedule a few home games as Fenway games and still play all their playoff games there.

 

That's stupid IMO. If you're going to move into a new stadium, move into it. Maintaining two stadiums would be really hard.

[WhiskeyBreath]

They love to keep throwing perfume on a pig don't they? Fenway is very historical and all that but it's really time for a state of the art stadium that can hold 50,000 fans.

[TheKilo]

They love to keep throwing perfume on a pig don't they? Fenway is very historical and all that but it's really time for a state of the art stadium that can hold 50' date='000 fans.[/quote']

 

MA taxpayers want to foot the bill?

[Dojji]

The Sox are a safe enough investment that I have a hard time believing that they couldn't score enough private funding not to be a huge burden on the Massachusetts taxpayer. That said, this certainly would be a tactless time to start building gaudy new ballparks that charge outrageous prices per seat.

 

*ahem*.

[SCM33]

Unless they build an exact clone, in the exact spot.....I dont want another ballpark. I am 26 years old, not some old timer who refuses to accept change. There is something to be said about the atmosphere around the ballpark on game days, especially big games. The neighborhood, the architecture, the buzz around the park, the downtown Boston setting, the traffic, the difficult parking, the scalpers, the griminess.....these are all things that set us apart from other ballparks. Fenway fans are knowledgeable, they're tough tried and tested fans. Fenway is a representation of us. Boston Red Sox fans are not about fancy restaurants....Sox fans are about the Sausage Guy sausages outside and the cold beer of the Cask n' Flagon.

 

Fenway Park is a symbol of the RedSox organization......an old school ballpark, and old school club full of guy who play the game hard and get their uniforms dirty, and an old school fan base, who are some of the most intelligent baseball fans in the country.

 

Funny to say that last sentence however, because intelligent fans would understand the home field advantage we get from that shithole.....whether it be the dimensions of the park, or the closeness of some of the most intense fans in all of baseball.

 

-SCM33

[Teddyballgame10]

Unless they build an exact clone, in the exact spot.....I dont want another ballpark. I am 26 years old, not some old timer who refuses to accept change. There is something to be said about the atmosphere around the ballpark on game days, especially big games. The neighborhood, the architecture, the buzz around the park, the downtown Boston setting, the traffic, the difficult parking, the scalpers, the griminess.....these are all things that set us apart from other ballparks. Fenway fans are knowledgeable, they're tough tried and tested fans. Fenway is a representation of us. Boston Red Sox fans are not about fancy restaurants....Sox fans are about the Sausage Guy sausages outside and the cold beer of the Cask n' Flagon.

 

Fenway Park is a symbol of the RedSox organization......an old school ballpark, and old school club full of guy who play the game hard and get their uniforms dirty, and an old school fan base, who are some of the most intelligent baseball fans in the country.

 

Funny to say that last sentence however, because intelligent fans would understand the home field advantage we get from that shithole.....whether it be the dimensions of the park, or the closeness of some of the most intense fans in all of baseball.

 

-SCM33

 

Yea man I agree I don't need a restaurant in the stadium that is gonna cost a 100 bucks. All I need is that Sausage vendor outside baby. Those things are phenomenal. Its not just Fenway its self its the whole atmosphere around it.

[James]

Never been to Fenway,but going by friends who go and other comments and looking at video and photos.

They must move,but only if they keep the same atmosphere.

We have crap like that in football(soccer)here,were new stadiums killed the atmosphere.

What do others who have been to Fenway,think,a new stadium should be to keep the traditions and atmosphere.

I want to make it to Fenway before it comes down.

[James]

Unless they build an exact clone, in the exact spot.....I dont want another ballpark. I am 26 years old, not some old timer who refuses to accept change. There is something to be said about the atmosphere around the ballpark on game days, especially big games. The neighborhood, the architecture, the buzz around the park, the downtown Boston setting, the traffic, the difficult parking, the scalpers, the griminess.....these are all things that set us apart from other ballparks. Fenway fans are knowledgeable, they're tough tried and tested fans. Fenway is a representation of us. Boston Red Sox fans are not about fancy restaurants....Sox fans are about the Sausage Guy sausages outside and the cold beer of the Cask n' Flagon.

 

Fenway Park is a symbol of the RedSox organization......an old school ballpark, and old school club full of guy who play the game hard and get their uniforms dirty, and an old school fan base, who are some of the most intelligent baseball fans in the country.

 

Funny to say that last sentence however, because intelligent fans would understand the home field advantage we get from that shithole.....whether it be the dimensions of the park, or the closeness of some of the most intense fans in all of baseball.

 

-SCM33

Good post,new stadiums here kill the game.

They forget about the real fans and roll out the red capret for coperates,who dont go to all the games,dont back the team and are just there as some sort of status symbol.

The real fans become customers and are treated badly

My soccer team Glasgow Celtic,used to have one of the best atmosphere,but not now,fans who try to get it back,face an uphill struggle byt the new breed of fans.

We do lots of singing,but now they tell us to be quiet,even when people shout when a chance goes by,its shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,we are watching the game.

I hope it doesnt happen the Red Sox,the owners must see that the coperates are the customers and the fans and the life blood.

[Dojji]

Unfortunately the major sports teams are much too focused on the big shiny dollar and will pass up a thousand pennies to get it. Overcorporatizing the game is penny-wise and pound foolish.

 

We will have a new park someday. Nothing lasts forever. When we do, I hope it isn't glitzed up to the gills and instead we get an elegantly simple ballpark where the whole focus is on the game itself. That's what New England fans are used to and what they will demand.

[rician blast]

Unless they build an exact clone, in the exact spot.....I dont want another ballpark. I am 26 years old, not some old timer who refuses to accept change. There is something to be said about the atmosphere around the ballpark on game days, especially big games. The neighborhood, the architecture, the buzz around the park, the downtown Boston setting, the traffic, the difficult parking, the scalpers, the griminess.....these are all things that set us apart from other ballparks. Fenway fans are knowledgeable, they're tough tried and tested fans. Fenway is a representation of us. Boston Red Sox fans are not about fancy restaurants....Sox fans are about the Sausage Guy sausages outside and the cold beer of the Cask n' Flagon.

 

Fenway Park is a symbol of the RedSox organization......an old school ballpark, and old school club full of guy who play the game hard and get their uniforms dirty, and an old school fan base, who are some of the most intelligent baseball fans in the country.

 

Funny to say that last sentence however, because intelligent fans would understand the home field advantage we get from that shithole.....whether it be the dimensions of the park, or the closeness of some of the most intense fans in all of baseball.

 

-SCM33

 

Look around you next time you're at a game at Fenway. There are plenty of what Mr Crunchy calls the pink hat and cell phone crowd. Those "fans" are not there for the game, per se, but because being there is in vogue. Many fans know nothing about the game or the team history. Success has its trappings.

 

As for the buzz and architecture, etc. all good stuff, and I too love the griminess and the S&P vendors and all that. But technically speaking it is not a great place to watch a game from a comfort/viewing perspective (RF grandstands face CF, seats are tiny, etc.)

[a700hitter]

Look around you next time you're at a game at Fenway. There are plenty of what Mr Crunchy calls the pink hat and cell phone crowd. Those "fans" are not there for the game, per se, but because being there is in vogue. Many fans know nothing about the game or the team history. Success has its trappings.

In a new stadium with wide concourses, the pink hats will have some place to browse and sight see getting out of the way of the real fans.

[Redguitar985]

Dale and Holley were actually talking about this today on EEI. Holley doesn't really see them keeping it up fifty years and figures if they got the All-Star Game in 2012 for the 100th anniversary, you'd see ownership talking about a new stadium pretty soon after.

 

The big thing too though, is that if they do build a new stadium, it most likely won't be publicly funded. Bob Kraft and Jeremy Jacobs had to build their stadiums on their own because I guess the state just said no straight up and wouldn't help out.

[BoSox21]

I don't think this ownership group will be around in 40-50 years anyway

[Dojji]

Heck, will baseball stadiums be what they are now in 50 years? We're already making inroads into levels of VR that make the stadium experience little more than a pleasant and profitable anachronism, who knows how far that goes as we move into the future.

[ORS]

I don't think people will ever prefer VR to the real thing. Technology will reach out to those who have a distance from the park impediment, but those within range will find their way to the park.

[SCM33]

So......Fenway, almost 100 years old, continues to sell out, despite the economy and high ticket prices, parking, concessions and what not.

 

Yankee Stadium v.3 has completely empty sections. The best seating available in the place is empty, not to mention outrageous prices, and 16 dollars for a program/scorecard. Sickkkkkk........

[Teddyballgame10]

I wonder what the average attendence fro Yankee Home games will be at the end of the year. It will have to be more then 38,000 right? That actully might be misleading though and maybe the median is a better look because the data will probably be skewed to high for when they do sell out against the Red Sox etc.

[Teddyballgame10]

Actually excluding opening day its been around 45,000. That should be consistent

[BoSox21]

attendances will rise as the temperature does

[Cocos Disciples]

Weekday afternoon games will continue to suffer, as they always do.

[J-Beck]

To be honest I'm surprised so many people are wanting a new stadium.

 

I love Fenway and would hate to see it replaced. We would lose so much history, and the atmosphere would be nowhere near the same. It would be just another generic new ballpark.

 

I would love to see them keep playing in it until it crumbles down.

[Dojji]

Population has increased and it's almost impossible for Fenway to keep up with new demand. Recognizing that Fenway is a unique resource all its own, I feel that there's a middle fround that can be reached between preserving our history and actually serving the region appropriately to its needs.

 

As for "keeping playing in it until it crumbles down," I have no particular desire to want to see Fenway go through the few final decline years of a dying park. Better to preserve the memory of the park in its 100-year prime than that.