Fenway Park turns 100 today providing an opportunity to look back on many memories and look forward to the creation of many more.
In this June 8, 1950, file photo, Boston Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams views the scoreboard on the left field wall at Fenway Park in Boston as the Red Sox were leading the St. Louis Browns 29-4. The Red Sox will celebrate the anniversary of Fenway's opening on April 20, 1912, when they host the New York Yankees.Friday afternoon the Boston Red Sox will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park. It really shouldn't matter that the Red Sox are 4-8. In the end, the significance of Fenway Park is far more important than a slow start to a long season.
On Friday it will be about more than just a team, or a team's record, or a manager, or even an opponent.
Friday it's about the place where approximately 38,000 people will be watching the Red Sox square off against the New York Yankees.
When it comes to Fenway Park, it doesn't matter if you're there today or haven't been there in years. The odds are that the experience left an impression.
The ballpark first opened in 1912 and it's been accumulating memories ever since. There are the memories that are shared universally, some good, some bad. Fisk's home run in 1975, Roger Clemens striking out 20 in 1986 and on and on.
The real lure of Fenway is that it holds memories for everyone that has gone there. Maybe you didn't witness no-hitter or a walk-off, but that hardly matters.
For me, the memories include witnessing newly-signed high-profile closer Lee Smith give up a 10th inning two-run home run to Alan Trammel and in an opening day Red Sox loss in 1988.
There were a pair of games in the final week of the 1990 regular season. A Friday night tilt on September 28 which featured the Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays, at that point tied for first place. Pinch hitter Jeff Stone hit an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Red Sox a dramatic 7-6 walk-off win.
The following Wednesday I was in the bleachers when Tom Brunansky made a diving catch in the ninth inning to seal a win on the final night of the regular season and clinch the American League East for the Red Sox.
Then just a few years ago I was lucky enough to be in the grandstands above third base for Game 7 of the 2007 American League Championship series against the Cleveland Indians. Most readers probably know how this game turned out and how that season concluded.
The majority of Major League Baseball franchises play in sparkling, modern stadiums, with cushioned wide seats, retractable roofs, swimming pools, aquariums, high-end food and fancy amenities.
Fenway Park has intimacy, authenticity, history, memories and a closeness to the game that is the envy of nearly every other major league fan base. There are other old franchises in baseball but most of them are now playing in modern stadiums. The Yankees, Phillies, Tigers, White Sox, Orioles, and Cardinals are all playing in new stadiums.
Only the Chicago Cubs and immortal Wrigley Field can claim a similar type of cross-generational connection between fans and ballpark.
If your grandparents, parents or older siblings went to Red Sox games, they went to Fenway Park to watch them. Not a different version of Fenway Park but the very same Fenway Park that will celebrate it's 100th birthday on Friday Afternoon. Your children and even their children will most likely attend Red Sox games at Fenway Park as well.