Fenway Park

Fenway Park
America's Most Beloved Ballpark

Facility statistics
Location	4 Yawkey Way Boston, Massachusetts 02215
Broke ground	1911
Opened	April 20, 192
Owner	Boston Red Sox
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	$650,000 USD
Architect	Osborn Engineering Corp.
Tenants
Boston Red Sox (MLB) (1912-present) Boston Redskins (NFL) (1933-1936) Boston Yanks (NFL) (1944-1948) Boston Patriots (AFL) (1963-1967)
Seating capacity
35,000 (1912) 34,824 (1953) 33,524 (1965) 33,513 (1977) 34,182 (1989) 34,218 (1993) 33,557 (2001 day) 33,993 (2001 night) 33,871 (2003) 36,298 (2004) 38,805 (2006)
Dimensions
Left Field Line - 310 ft (94.5 m) Left-Center (deep) - 379 ft (115.5 m) Center Field - 389 ft 9 in (118.8 m) Right-Center (deep) - 420 ft (128 m) Right Field "Average" - 380 ft (115.8 m) Right Field Line - 302 ft (92 m) Backstop - 60 ft (18 m)

Fenway Park is the home ballpark for the Boston Red Sox baseball club. It is located near, and named for, the Fenway neighborhood in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, which in turn is named for the nearby fens, or marshes. Its name comes from when former owner John I. Taylor said, "It's in the Fenway section of Boston, isn't it? Then name it Fenway Park." It opened on April 20, 1912, the same day as the now-abandoned Tiger Stadium in Detroit. This makes it the oldest ballpark still in active use in Major League Baseball. Fenway hosted the 1946, 1961, and 1999 Major League Baseball All-Star Games. Fenway Park didn't even make the top page in the newspaper the day it opened, as it opened five days after the Titanic sank, amidst extensive coverage of that famous disaster.

Historically, Fenway Park has been decidedly unfriendly to left-handed pitchers. Babe Ruth is one of the few southpaw hurlers who found success there. Ruth started his career as a pitcher (mostly during the "dead-ball era",) and had a career record of 92 wins, 44 losses. Ruth also set a World Series record by pitching 29 2/3 scoreless innings, a record that lasted until broken by Whitey Ford of the New York Yankees in 1961.

Fenway Park is one of the few remaining classic parks in major league baseball to have a significant number of obstructed view seats. These are sold as such, and are a reminder of an era of less commercially-driven ballparks.

Ground Rules

Foul poles and screen poles are outside playing field.
A ball going through scoreboard, either on the bound or fly, is two bases.
A fly ball striking left-center field wall to right of line behind flag pole is a home run.
A fly ball striking wall or flag pole and bounding into bleachers is a home run.
A fly ball striking line or right of same on wall in center is a home run.
A fly ball striking wall left of line and bounding into bullpen is a home run.
A ball sticking in the bullpen screen or bouncing into the bullpen is two bases.

A batted or thrown ball remaining behind or under canvas or in tarp cylinder is two bases.

Popular Stadiums

Fenway Park

Ground Rules