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Heresy or way past time?

By adamg on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 6:21pm

Tear down Fenway Park?

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Sports
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Red Sox
Fenway Park


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Comments

By anon on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 7:41pm.

Whatever you think, the politics of a new ballpark make it impossible to build a new one. That's why the Patriots, Bruin and Celtics ended up next door to their previous facilities, something not really possible in Fenway's case. And fans continue to pay high face value and even higher "secondary" value for tickets.

By R. S. Buchanan on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 9:00pm.

Unfortunately, the SI poll only asked two questions regarding the actual physical comfort provided by the park. Everything else (fan friendliness, food, etc) is stuff that won't be fixed by knocking down Fenway and replacing it with a new park. The food will still suck, if they move to the waterfront like Harrington wanted to do, they might improve parking but they'll certainly screw up public transit, and the fan experience for casual attendees will still be defined more by the drunk morons than by the knowledgeable fans who are still on speaking terms with their livers (which is true in every park I've ever been to, and I've been to a lot).

BTW, this is really a profoundly un-serious ranking. The mere fact that the lack of bobblehead night counts as much as ticket prices is the dead giveaway that this whole thing was conceived by non-fans for non-fans.

By anon on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 10:19pm.

As a resident of Audubon Circle, I say: raze the SOB, and good riddance to the legions of drunken suburbanites who remind me why I don't go west of Cleveland Circle.

So there.

By merlinmurph on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 12:09pm.

You city people are sooooo perfect. "Drunken suburbanites?" Give me a break. It's a big world out there, take a look sometime.
So there.

By hit it and quit it on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 9:23am.

Hating on Fenway Park b/c of the food, are you serious? You go to watch baseball, eat before or after, I don't feel bad for idiots that wait in line for overpriced ish.

"Fenway and the neighborhood that surrounds it" - Fenway park is named for the neighborhood, not the other way around.

By YuppieScum on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 12:40pm.

I think they ought to build a brand-spankin', beautiful state of the art stadium either on the Waterfront or in the Innerbelt section of somerville (future green line destination), and split their home games between there and Fenway.

By Michael on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 12:47pm.

The Marlins don't have any fans, anyway; let's move them here. There's enough baseball craziness to support two teams in this city. The only question is if the fandom split happens geographically (people to the north follow the Massachusetts Marlins) or economically (some percentage of everyone who can't afford to go to Fenway breaks for the new guys).

By Suldog on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 12:51pm.

I bet they'd draw enough. Lots of folks west of 128 have an inferiority complex concerning Boston. Or, at least, they're dissed enough by Bostonians to have one.

The inter-league games would be fierce.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

By Michael on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 12:57pm.

...except, having seen an AHL team fail there, a giant downtown mall fail there twice, and it take 15 years just to shoo the badgers out of Union Station, I'm convinced that Worcester is the only city with a bigger "can't-do" spirit than Boston.

And, selfishly, Springfield is too far for me to just up'n'go to a night game. Plus, you might have some former NY fans from CT mingling with former Sox fans from MA, and it would just get weird.

By Josh on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 12:54pm.

As has already been discussed, it would not be the Massachusetts Marlins, but the Mystic River Marlins. I, as a Somerville resident, will be at every game I can get to!

By Suldog on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 1:05pm.

J. B. Sash & Door has a tie-in with the Sox, right? Maybe Marvin Windows would sponsor the new team. And the mascot would be...

Marvin Marlin!

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

By anon on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 2:31pm.

I'd love to see an NL team nearby. I think any number of towns within 128 could support them easily. Maybe if you put it near one of the "underserved" areas off the orange line it would increase the local economy. But first things first, bring back the Whalers!

By Suldog on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 3:39pm.

The Providence Steamrollers?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Providence_Steamrollers

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

By BStu on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 1:12pm.

I recall a rumor back with the Nationals were still the Expos, but EVERYONE knew they were ditching Montreal so their crowds were even lower than normal. There was talk of having the team split time in Boston and Puerto Rico if not just stay in Boston until it found a permanent home. I loved that idea, but it never became anything but a rumor. The idea was that they'd offer cut-rate admission to Fenway and, of course, NL teams on a regular basis. I'd have at least gone for all Mets games and they might have briefly lured me into rooting for them. I'd love a Boston NL team back in town. Even a reject team like the 'spos or Marlins. Though, they'd need a new name. This isn't the NBA where teams cart their locally significant names to absurd new locales. (UTAH Jazz? LA Lakers? Because of all the lakes in Los Angeles?)

We could respect the fish name, though. The Fenway Flounder?

By Michael on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 1:19pm.

...

By Ron Newman on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 2:28pm.

This isn't the NBA where teams cart their locally significant names to absurd new locales.

Some Trolley Dodgers fans will dispute your claim.

By adamg on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 2:31pm.

Los Angeles used to have tons of trolleys, too, so it sort of still worked.

By BStu on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 3:11pm.

The Boston Braves were once a site specific nickname, but it traveled fine, too. (Hasn't necessarily aged well, though) Ditto on both counts for the Boston Redskins. Also worth noting that trolley car's were taken out of service in NYC a year before the Dodger's left. LA actually still ran a trolley line in 1958.

The peripatetic nature of the NBA as of late has been less successful. Unless Memphis has a lot of Grizzly Bears, Utah is the birthplace of Jazz, and L.A. is the land of 1,000 lakes. Though, I'll give credit where its due. The Rockets were first named after the city where NASA's Atlas Rockets were made. Their move to Houston, however, was a Dodger-esque lateral to one of the few cities where the name would also have genuine local relevance.

By Michael on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 3:37pm.

From BASEketball, of all places:

"The Lakers moved to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes. The Oilers moved to Tennessee, where there is no oil. And the Jazz moved to Utah, where they don't allow music."