More Fenway Park Renovations

The Globe said:
A chance to get a big hit at Fenway
Visitors' batting cage to open

By Bella English, Globe Staff | February 12, 2008

The batter steps up to the plate, knees bent, eyes squinted. Whoosh! He whiffs on the first ball, connects on a couple, and then smacks one to the left wall. "That," he announces, "was a home run."

Boston restaurant and club owner Patrick Lyons is hardly Big Papi, but he is relishing his first time in the visitors' batting cage in the basement of Fenway Park. He has just stepped through a door from his Fenway eatery Game On! and entered the indoor cage, which is all artificial turf, padded mats, and black netting. "It's exhilarating," says Lyons, 55, who played sandlot ball as a child.

For the first time at Fenway, fans will be able to enter the visiting team's batting cage and take swings in the same practice area used by the likes of Derek Jeter and Miguel Tejada. Lyons and the Red Sox say they aren't aware of any other Major League Baseball team with such an arrangement.

Naturally this will all occur when the Sox aren't at Fenway, and naturally it will cost, starting at $50 to $75 per head. Here's how it works: You book a party of at least 20 people - birthday, corporate, bachelor, whatever - at Game On!, which is on Fenway prop erty but outside the gates. The package includes food, the batting cage - complete with bats, helmets, and a pitching machine - and cheers and jeers from your friends, who can watch through a huge one-way window in the basement bar.

The Red Sox and Lyons, who leases the restaurant space from the team, say they hope the experience will attract more year-round traffic to the Fenway area.

"It gives fans an opportunity to creatively use that space when it's not being used by the visiting team," says Jonathan Gilula, vice president of business operations for the Red Sox. "It's the first time in Red Sox history we've done anything like this."

There's another novel plan in the works: When the Sox are at Fenway, restaurant patrons will be able to watch - free of charge - the visiting team take batting practice through that huge window in the bar, which is now covered by a NASCAR mural. Lyons hopes to have the window ready by opening day on April 8.

"As soon as that mural comes down, you will be able to sit here and see the visiting team practice," says Lindsay Curtis, marketing manager for the Lyons Group. "They're in there an hour and a half before each game."

Security will be stationed at the window, says Curtis, to prevent Red Sox fans from indulging in unseemly behavior that might disrupt the visiting batters. Because of the one-way glass, the visitors won't know they're being watched. Still, she says, Red Sox officials may ask each team if it minds the invisible spectators.

"It has to not distract the other team," Curtis says. "We have to make sure there's no glare or reflection, and that fans aren't distracting them. If Johnny Damon's in there, we could have some anxious Red Sox fans."
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I wonder how many opposing teams would agree to allow this. I would find the idea of an unseen, hidden audience to be a bit distracting.
 
they play in front of 35,00 every night...i dont think its a big deal. i bet teams like the yankees might say no because they think the red sox are gonna get some kinda advantage because of it.... complete bs but they would say that
 
Well it can't be any worse than front row seats anywhere in the stadium (especially in the outfield) where drunken season ticket holders can toss $7.50 cups of warm Sam Adams at steriod abusing Yankees outfielders resulting in a melee costing said season ticket holder his dignity and worst of all his season tickes (arranged in order of ticket holder's priorities).

In all seriousness, I don't think teams will be too distracted. They have to brush off much worse than drunks peering and jeering through one-way glass. In fact, many visiting team players tend to walk into Game On! (supposedly there's a door directly connected to the visiting clubhouse) and get drinks amonst the drunken fans, post game (win or lose). My ex-girlfriend is a bartender/ waitress there and occasionally sends me pictures of her with players from opposing teams to A) make me jealous, or B) use her position (I'm a big Sox fan) to try to get me to spend more time with her.
 
Boston.com - April 3, 2008
Red Sox show off upgrades at Fenway
April 3, 2008 11:23 AM

By Globe Staff

Fans returning to Fenway Park for the Red Sox home opener next week may notice extra seats squeezed into the 96-year-old ballpark, four new scoreboards in the outfield, and a host of other subtle changes to improve stairways, elevators, and restrooms.

Off season renovations added 875 seats and 100 new ?well-located? standing room tickets, according to the team. Twelve suites were added on the EMC Level. And the State Street Pavilion behind home plate was expanded with new club and box seats and standing room spots with drinkrails.

The team showed off the changes today on a tour that included the media and city officials such as Mayor Thomas M. Menino. The Red Sox will play their home opener on Tuesday at 2:05 p.m. against the Detroit Tigers.

?Every day Fenway Park creates opportunities for the Red Sox to build relationships with our fans,? principal owner John Henry said in a statement. ?We know that first impressions are lasting impressions. Whether it is a child?s first game, an international traveler?s introduction to baseball, or another day at the ballpark for a veteran fan, each visitor is special, and we are committed to doing everything possible to ensure a superior experience.?

The improvements were described in a press release issued this morning by the team:

ADDITIONAL SEATING: Fenway Park will open this season with approximately 875 new seats, plus additional 100 well-located standing room tickets. The State Street Pavilion has been extended on both the left and right field sides serving as home to new club and box seats as well as new standing room spots with drinkrails. Eight new private suites, the new ?State Street Pavilion Suites?, replaced the six suites (?K? and ?B?) housed in temporary boxes originally placed on the Pavilion for the 1999 All-Star Game. 12 private suites on the EMC Level have also been renovated, adding to the 26 renovated in 2007.

In February, the team unveiled the Coca-Cola Corner on the left field corner of the State Street Pavilion level. It is home to 412 new ?Pavilion Reserved? seats and a dedicated ?choir riser? type of standing-room section, the first ever at Fenway, which will provide one of the best and most unique views in the park. The Coca-Cola Corner is crowned with a new illuminated sign featuring the beverage company?s signature red and white logo. The sign design harkens back to a historic Coca-Cola sign that stood on Storrow Drive for more than four decades and will provide the company with a new and even more meaningful historic Fenway presence. The Coca-Cola Corner seating area will provide new opportunities for group ticket sales, and will feature Coca-Cola and Red Sox-themed d?cor and a wide variety of food and beverage options, including select Coca-Cola products.

A significant number of tickets for the State Street Pavilion Suites and Pavilion Reserved seats in the Coca-Cola Corner will be sold on a single game basis, reflecting the team?s commitment to enable as many different fans as possible to come to the ballpark each season.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND CIRCULATION IMPROVEMENTS: A commitment to improve fan movement throughout the ballpark brought about major improvements in vertical circulation, including a new staircase from the Gate A entry area on Yawkey Way to the back of the Grandstand at Section 27 to the EMC Level and State Street Pavilion. There are new staircases in left field and an escalator has been repaired. A new elevator has also been installed between Gates A and E, which will stop on all levels and vastly improve the circulation in left field.

The club has focused on improving restroom access, adding two new family restrooms on the State Street Pavilion, new permanent men?s and women?s restrooms for Green Monster patrons, and new restrooms adjacent to the Red Sox Interview Room. The men?s restroom behind Grandstand 27 has also been renovated to provide for wheelchair accessibility.

The bleacher seating bowl has undergone complete concrete repair and waterproofing. The section?s old seats were sold to season ticket holders at the end of 2007, and replaced with new self-rising seats which will ease movement in and out of rows.

The seating replacement gave the club the opportunity to add 15 new wheelchair locations compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and 15 new companion seats in the front row of the bleachers. The club also added eight new ADA-compliant wheelchair positions and eight new companion seats in the left field grandstand near the new elevator.

Structural upgrades and stabilization were completed in all seating areas, and service level improvements include new sprinkler systems in the concourses.
As a part of the club?s commitment to bring the Red Sox clubhouse up to par with those of other Major League teams, the Red Sox installed a kitchen, offices, and new restrooms on the clubhouse Mezzanine Level.

INFORMATION AND AUXILIARY SCOREBOARDS: Four linear scoreboards, two in left field and two in right, now line portions of the EMC Level fascia. The ?LED? technology gives full color, clear information regarding the batter, the pitcher, the count, and other key game statistics. This improvement will provide useful information to fans in center field and left field who have compromised views of the scoreboards.

MORE CONCESSIONS AND GATHERING SPACES: A new left field deck behind the Coca-Cola Corner will be available for fans to gather and relax with family and friends in a picnic style setting. 32 picnic tables with 16 umbrellas will be available for fans to sit and enjoy the ballpark atmosphere from a unique perspective.

Additional concession stands were added to the State Street Pavilion to provide fans on the State Street Pavilion and Green Monster with more options and improved availability.
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I still wonder why State Street bought naming rights to a seating area, when they do not sell any product that a baseball fan would be likely to buy. (Neither does EMC, really.)
 
State Street Pavilion is premium seating near home plate. Considering that Fenway is the most expensive baseball outing in the nation, State Street must have been targeting the high incomes of ticket holders around home plate.

However, I would also assume that there are better venues than Fenway for an investment firm such as State Street to advertise.


*In other Fenway news, hawks attack middle school girls visiting the park:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/04/hawk_nest_remov.html
 
Ron Newman said:
I still wonder why State Street bought naming rights to a seating area, when they do not sell any product that a baseball fan would be likely to buy. (Neither does EMC, really.)
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Why do you assume that people who buy State Street & EMC services and products aren't Red Sox fans?

The days of the average Red Sox fan being Joe Blow the construction worker are looong gone.

The Sox are very popular among the suits nowadays. Some are pink hats but a lot are true die hards as well.

You don't have to be poor to enjoy baseball.
 
I'm delighted the sox are so successful these days and there is no doubt that the current ownership group is a savvy bunch and cares about the legacy and history of the team. They have also developed an enormous number of new revenue streams, but I find it depressing that the ballpark is papered with gaudy advertisements. In the 1980s the monster and the rest of the walls along the field of play were untouched by ads. Fenway is such a great place but those ads really detract from its beauty. I can't imagine that the revenue generated by those ads amounts to anything more than the salary of a journeyman middle reliever.
 
This isn't new:

old-fenway.jpg
 
True, ads were once far more prevalent in the urban landscape, hard as it is to believe today. The Old State House was once completely covered in them.
 
^What's there today is more tastefully done anyway. The ads seem to blend in seamlessly with their surroundings and some even feel as if they've been there for a long time (See: Coca-Cola Corner sign or even the Budweiser and John Hancock logos) when in fact, they're not that old at all. I'm fine with the state of advertising in Fenway Park and feel that it's done very well. Imagine the outrage if the ad in that picture were plastered on the wall today.
 
Indeed -- Calvert's are a defunct cigarette brand. Would seem a bit disingenuous, given the Sox long-standing partnership with the Jimmy Fund.
 
I don't know the date of that photo, but the Sox inherited the Jimmy Fund affiliation from the Braves after the latter team left Boston in 1953.

Edit:This page says the photo is from 1942, and also that Calvert was a brand of whiskey rather than cigarettes.
 
I'll take a stab and say statler's pic is from the late 40's. And by disingenuous, I mean given present circumstances. I think all the cigarette ads were out of the park in the early 90's.

EDIT -- I stand corrected: thanks Ron.
 
Yes, people are quick to point out that there were advertisements on the green monster in years past...as if somehow all aesthetic decisions made in the 1940s were flawless. I don't think advertisements enhanced the beauty of the park then and I don't think they add to the appearance of the park today.

I couldn't find much in the way of high quality images of the green monster before commercialization rank amok, but these few shots clearly show a marked difference between then and now. In my opinion, the effect is akin to covering a nice suit with a batch of campaign buttons.
monsternewbattingpractice.jpg

Greenmonsternew.jpg


fenway_behind_homeplate.jpg


oldmonster.jpg
 
I like having the out-of-town NL scoreboard alongside the AL one. And the AL east standings. So I'd call it an improvement.
 
Beton Brut said:
Indeed -- Calvert's are a defunct cigarette brand. Would seem a bit disingenuous, given the Sox long-standing partnership with the Jimmy Fund.
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Isn't Calvert's a brand of gin? (I recall the phrase, "Calvert's Extra Dry...")??? BTW, I don't mind all the ads and embellishments; the park reminds me pics I've seen of early 20th C ball parks, plastered with ads. Kind of nostalgic...
 
Resurrecting this thread. Anyone know what's planned for this off-season? New video screen? Anything major?
 
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