Future of Fenway

[Kimmi]

Theater seats with soft cushions isn't exactly reminiscent of the old Stadium. Are they trying to make people comfortable because the product on the field isn't worth the money and not very entertaining?

 

 

Ouch. Anyone who can tweak the Yankees like that is all right in my book.

[mvp 78]

Again, I want it torn down but it will nit happen in my lifetime.

[Dojji]

Theater seats with soft cushions isn't exactly reminiscent of the old Stadium. Are they trying to make people comfortable because the product on the field isn't worth the money and not very entertaining?

 

I'm sure you're aware what a false dichotomy that is. You do not need to make the fans uncomfortable to put a good product on the field.

[sk7326]

The only way there will be a new ballpark will be if they can figure out a way to make it happen on land they already own. But if there is a new ballpark, it will be driven by luxury suites more than anything else.

[jacksonianmarch]

Fenway will always be in the hearts and minds of Boston fans. It is a museum now, more than anything else. It is as antiquated as they come and the actual fan experience is pathetic. Yes, people journey from all over to go back to the Fens, but the seats are built for 5'6" guys who weigh about 120lbs. They aren't facing the right direction most times, with their direction being a few degrees off and let's not even mention obstructed view seats. I was a big opponent to knocking down YS and moving into a new stadium because of the history and all that. But the new stadium is even better, the seats are great, the experience is better, etc. If the sox do it right and move a lot of what made Fenway so beloved for Boston sports fans, they can significantly improve the experience. If they don't do it right, it will feel like a pretty sterile environment.

[jacksonianmarch]

Theater seats with soft cushions isn't exactly reminiscent of the old Stadium. Are they trying to make people comfortable because the product on the field isn't worth the money and not very entertaining?

 

How's it going Dutch?

[Palodios]

Party pooper!!!

 

Over the years, I've sat in the Green Monster, loge behind home plate, Green Monster standing room, right field boxes, obstructed right field seats, hung around standing room behind home plate, and mostly a ton of time in bleachers. I've come in from the Green Line D East and West, the commuter rail from Framingham, the commuter rail from Providence, and by foot. I have never dared drive to a game, but I have taken a few bus trips.

 

I have also been to a dozen other major league stadiums. Fenway is dirty. The right field seats face the outfield -- even the premium lower level ones. View obstruction is common. Transportation is always a nightmare, and parking around Fenway is nearly nonexistent. Seats are expensive. Good seats, extremely so. People barely watch the game unless they're sitting behind home plate, because that's the only place in the whole park with a good view.

[mvp 78]

How's it going Dutch?

 

Oh please oh please oh please be Dutchy!

[Palodios]

Also, a new stadium means will have to put a good team on the field. I don't want Fenway to turn into Wrigley... a place that sells out just because its Wrigley. Please don't continue this conversation in this thread, but most of us seem to agree the Red Sox are a pitcher short this offseason.

[BSN07]

What most are over looking is if a stadium is Built for the Olympics and the Sox take it over when it concludes then a would imagine a good size chunk of the stadium costs will be covered by who bidding for Olympics.

 

I'd like to see a stadium built, then after it's done take the rest of the summer to remodel/retool it and make it the Red Sox home. I'd like them to keep the "on field" look of the park with maybe so minor tweaks in the dimensions.

 

I also really like Pals idea of moving the Pawsox to the Original Fenway for baseball(there is plenty of other ways of renting the venue to keep it up). Make it a living museum where families can bring their kids see the history, get an on field experience that won't cost you to re-mortgage your house and some good minor league ball at the end.

 

I think having both stadiums can work.

[seabeachfred]

Over the years, I've sat in the Green Monster, loge behind home plate, Green Monster standing room, right field boxes, obstructed right field seats, hung around standing room behind home plate, and mostly a ton of time in bleachers. I've come in from the Green Line D East and West, the commuter rail from Framingham, the commuter rail from Providence, and by foot. I have never dared drive to a game, but I have taken a few bus trips.

 

I have also been to a dozen other major league stadiums. Fenway is dirty. The right field seats face the outfield -- even the premium lower level ones. View obstruction is common. Transportation is always a nightmare, and parking around Fenway is nearly nonexistent. Seats are expensive. Good seats, extremely so. People barely watch the game unless they're sitting behind home plate, because that's the only place in the whole park with a good view.

 

All most likely true Pal and I won't bother to argue the point, but for a fan used to the sterile atmosphere of Dodger and Angel Stadiums, Fenway Park reminds me of old Ebbets Field of my youth in Queens, a neighborhood ballpark where excitement comes as soon as you get near the ball park with the bars, restaurants, outdoor sausage stands and the Red Sox shops waving their wares. Hell, before Christmas in 2010, I took my wife to a House of Windsor store where she buys some knik naks, purses and jewelry, and happened to chance upon a section that had some of the late Thomas Kinkade's paintings. You guessed it....one was so Fenway Park depicting the second game of the 2007 World Series. I must have stared at it for an hour and decided I had to have it. It was priced at $2,700 but the sales lady saw me in my Red Sox regalia and gave me a real Christmas break......sold it to me for $2,000, including taxes. It hangs in my living room. Fenway is priceless to me, no other ballpark compares with it in my opinion, but, then again, I have been accused of being slightly eccentric.

[jad]

It doesn't matter if the views are obstructed and teh facilities aren't the best. As long as the place fills up with fans willing and eager to pay top dollar (which it does), and players aren't refusing to play there (which they aren't), then it is by definition a great ballpark, since that is what they are designed to do.

[Spudboy]

All most likely true Pal and I won't bother to argue the point, but for a fan used to the sterile atmosphere of Dodger and Angel Stadiums, Fenway Park reminds me of old Ebbets Field of my youth in Queens, a neighborhood ballpark where excitement comes as soon as you get near the ball park with the bars, restaurants, outdoor sausage stands and the Red Sox shops waving their wares. Hell, before Christmas in 2010, I took my wife to a House of Windsor store where she buys some knik naks, purses and jewelry, and happened to chance upon a section that had some of the late Thomas Kinkade's paintings. You guessed it....one was so Fenway Park depicting the second game of the 2007 World Series. I must have stared at it for an hour and decided I had to have it. It was priced at $2,700 but the sales lady saw me in my Red Sox regalia and gave me a real Christmas break......sold it to me for $2,000, including taxes. It hangs in my living room. Fenway is priceless to me, no other ballpark compares with it in my opinion, but, then again, I have been accused of being slightly eccentric.

 

Nice story about the painting.

 

Fenway has been a crumbling dump for many years.

 

I love walking up a ramp and seeing the bowl. It is very much my baseball home.

 

Still a crumbling dump.

[Ogden]

Over the years, I've sat in the Green Monster, loge behind home plate, Green Monster standing room, right field boxes, obstructed right field seats, hung around standing room behind home plate, and mostly a ton of time in bleachers. I've come in from the Green Line D East and West, the commuter rail from Framingham, the commuter rail from Providence, and by foot. I have never dared drive to a game, but I have taken a few bus trips.

 

I have also been to a dozen other major league stadiums. Fenway is dirty. The right field seats face the outfield -- even the premium lower level ones. View obstruction is common. Transportation is always a nightmare, and parking around Fenway is nearly nonexistent. Seats are expensive. Good seats, extremely so. People barely watch the game unless they're sitting behind home plate, because that's the only place in the whole park with a good view.

 

 

You don't like parking in a gas station for $50 and being blocked in? One time we thought we found a great place to park over by the Museum of Fine Arts for free. The only problem was it had valet parking which we didn't know about. My friend's car was found in Roxbury 3 days later.

 

If you think Fenway is dirty, you should have gone to the old Garden. If there was a concert the night before a Bruins or Celtic game, the vomit would still be in the aisles.

[Spudboy]

The Garden was a crumbling dump too.

[cp176]

The Garden was a crumbling dump too.

 

And how did that work out for Red? Didn't the lakers love coming to that old "dump". Turn up the heat in that visitor's locker room. If I thought the Sox got any advantage playing in that stadium, I would favor keeping it. They don't. It serves as a wonderful piece of nostalgia and that is about it. I have been all over that park and would now opt for standing room only and just wander around.

[mvp 78]

Dodger Stadium is much more enjoyable to be at for a game than Fenway.

[cp176]

Dodger Stadium is much more enjoyable to be at for a game than Fenway.

 

I guess that I hope that most stadiums are more comfortable than Fenway. For the sake of the fans.

[GomesBeard]

The problem with building a new stadium is not so much what it looks like, but the fact that due to the cost, they will have to price the seats out of the reach of the average fan, and current design trends being what they are, there will be so many other things to do at the ballpark that people who are not baseball fans will fill the place to see maybe some of a game but also visit the various stores, restaurants, bars, etc that will fill the new venue. This is what happened to Yankee Stadium. It's not just the $2,500 seats behind home plate that are frequently empty, and I've been told that the hard-core fans that made the old place rock are priced out for many games. The same thing has happened at Metlife Stadium (home of the Jets and Giants), mainly due to the PSL's they charge. If you go to Fenway Park, you're going to watch the game. That's not necessarily the case in a new 'Fenway Park' and it changes the complexion of the whole experience. As much as FP is a dump, it's still all about going to see the Sawx. I'd hate to lose that.

[sk7326]

The problem with building a new stadium is not so much what it looks like, but the fact that due to the cost, they will have to price the seats out of the reach of the average fan, and current design trends being what they are, there will be so many other things to do at the ballpark that people who are not baseball fans will fill the place to see maybe some of a game but also visit the various stores, restaurants, bars, etc that will fill the new venue. This is what happened to Yankee Stadium. It's not just the $2,500 seats behind home plate that are frequently empty, and I've been told that the hard-core fans that made the old place rock are priced out for many games. The same thing has happened at Metlife Stadium (home of the Jets and Giants), mainly due to the PSL's they charge. If you go to Fenway Park, you're going to watch the game. That's not necessarily the case in a new 'Fenway Park' and it changes the complexion of the whole experience. As much as FP is a dump, it's still all about going to see the Sawx. I'd hate to lose that.

 

Fenway already does that. Most expensive average seat in the game. If anything - 10,000 more seats would open up more affordable seats. Granted, further away from the action and it won't be a ton - BUT ... Fenway has been hiking prices for years to make up for the limited capacity

[cp176]

Fenway already does that. Most expensive average seat in the game. If anything - 10,000 more seats would open up more affordable seats. Granted, further away from the action and it won't be a ton - BUT ... Fenway has been hiking prices for years to make up for the limited capacity

 

I was just going to say as much. You beat me to the punch. They have basically already eliminated the real fan in many respects. It has truly become an entertainment industry. A real Sox fan should make the pilgrimage but if you have expectations of anything other than green grass and blue sky good luck with that. I thought that at one time a plan was in place for a new park just south of the city and just off I 95. I am sorry if this sounds disloyal (actually I'm not) but as ticket prices continue to go up, you really are "entitled" to have some expectations with respect to the facility. Prices don't seem to be going up in nickel and dime increments either.

[Palodios]

The problem with building a new stadium is not so much what it looks like, but the fact that due to the cost, they will have to price the seats out of the reach of the average fan, and current design trends being what they are, there will be so many other things to do at the ballpark that people who are not baseball fans will fill the place to see maybe some of a game but also visit the various stores, restaurants, bars, etc that will fill the new venue. This is what happened to Yankee Stadium. It's not just the $2,500 seats behind home plate that are frequently empty, and I've been told that the hard-core fans that made the old place rock are priced out for many games.

 

If you go to Fenway Park, you're going to watch the game. That's not necessarily the case in a new 'Fenway Park' and it changes the complexion of the whole experience. As much as FP is a dump, it's still all about going to see the Sawx. I'd hate to lose that.

 

That's not how I remember the New Yankee Stadium. It is on the edge of a crappy part of the city, and is still mostly about baseball -- there aren't exactly boutiques or big scale retail. Maybe I spend too much time in the bleachers, but no one in Fenway is ever paying attention to the games.

[GomesBeard]

That's not how I remember the New Yankee Stadium. It is on the edge of a crappy part of the city, and is still mostly about baseball -- there aren't exactly boutiques or big scale retail. Maybe I spend too much time in the bleachers, but no one in Fenway is ever paying attention to the games.

 

Well, it's been a while since I've been to a game in Fenway - but NY talk radio is filled with fans who talk about nothing else but the new Yankee Stadium and how the atmosphere is completely different from the old place. And as noted, the seats behind home plate are always empty, whereas every time I watch a Sox game on TV, the opposite it true. Even if Dennis Drinkwater isn't in attendance, his seat is filled...

 

(I did see that Jeremy Kapstein had a new headphone radio late in the season, guess the yellow ones died....)

[Palodios]

Well, it's been a while since I've been to a game in Fenway - but NY talk radio is filled with fans who talk about nothing else but the new Yankee Stadium and how the atmosphere is completely different from the old place. And as noted, the seats behind home plate are always empty, whereas every time I watch a Sox game on TV, the opposite it true. Even if Dennis Drinkwater isn't in attendance, his seat is filled...

 

(I did see that Jeremy Kapstein had a new headphone radio late in the season, guess the yellow ones died....)

 

Unfortunately, behind home plate is no longer a place for your average fans.

[sk7326]

I was just going to say as much. You beat me to the punch. They have basically already eliminated the real fan in many respects. It has truly become an entertainment industry. A real Sox fan should make the pilgrimage but if you have expectations of anything other than green grass and blue sky good luck with that. I thought that at one time a plan was in place for a new park just south of the city and just off I 95. I am sorry if this sounds disloyal (actually I'm not) but as ticket prices continue to go up, you really are "entitled" to have some expectations with respect to the facility. Prices don't seem to be going up in nickel and dime increments either.

 

Let's put it this way - if you could develop a ballpark with many of the cute features of Fenway - with wider seats, better viewing angles and 10,000 more seats increasing the "Under $25 ticket' base, that would be a good thing. I am not sentimental - I want a non-cookie cutter ballpark with distinctive features (and Lucchino of course knows how to do that) - but when Papi at 1:45 AM on that Monday Morning in 2014 hit that homerun, it wasn't the slabs of concrete that made me yell out in glee.

[mvp 78]

What game was that?

[sk7326]

What game was that?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5dsrwMAF80

 

My fingers moved too quickly over the year

 

Thanks for the excuse to post this

[User Name]

Your post said 2014, hence the confusion.

[sk7326]

Your post said 2014, hence the confusion.

 

Fixed - and never a bad time to pull that link out

[jacksonianmarch]

The sox are making money hand over fist currently, so as long as fans pack the park, this is an exercise in futility.