Ultimate Baseball Road Trip (3 page)

The relatively few number of seats, combined with the fanaticism of the Red Sox faithful, helps explain why the Red Sox sold out every game from May 15, 2003, through this book’s publication date. With “the streak,” the Red Sox, who passed the seven-hundred-game mark in 2011, demolished the previous record of 455 straight sellouts that the Cleveland Indians established between 1995 and 2001. What does this mean to you as a ballpark traveler? It means if you don’t want to pay the scalpers’ mark-up you must buy your Red Sox tickets when they go on sale in January. To do this, you must stare at your computer screen in the team’s virtual waiting room.

The only seats that position rooters closer to home plate than these are the ones behind the backstop at the new Yankee Stadium. And, as is the case in the Bronx, these seats are extremely hard to come by. And they cost a fortune. Basically, unless you’re one of the players’ wives or happen to own one of the local companies that advertise at Fenway, these spitting-distance chairs are beyond your reach. For the record, Fenway’s backstop is sixty feet from home plate, which means Giant Glass president Dennis Drinkwater—the middle-aged blond guy who has occupied the best seat in the house since 2003—is closer to the catcher than the pitcher is.

These infield box seats provide delightfully unobstructed sight lines. Season-ticket holders sit in them, as do folks who spend several hundred dollars per ticket in the secondary market. But don’t be discouraged: Fenway offers plenty of great seats that you can afford.

Located above the Field Boxes from which they’re separated by a narrow mid-level concourse, these seats are slightly more affordable on the secondary market, especially if you’re willing to split from your friends and buy a “single.”

The 274 Green Monster Seats are among the most unusual and coveted seats in baseball. Each is an individual chair that positions fans behind a pavilion-style counter. Unless you’re willing to lay down a few thou for an “Ultimate Monster Tour” package, the only way to purchase a Green Monster Seat is by getting lucky in the annual lottery the Red Sox hold in March. You can register online. Then, if your name is plucked from the proverbial E-hat, you have the right to purchase two tickets. But don’t get your hopes up.

Ah, finally we’ve gotten to the seats that won’t cost the equivalent of a mortgage payment for you to acquire. The only problem is that while these Right Field Boxes are within your means of procurement, they don’t provide good views. The first few rows (A-F) of Boxes 86 and 87 in home run territory are decent, as are the “tarp alley” Boxes (1A, 1–7) near Pesky’s Pole, but the majority of them point fans toward center field rather than home plate. And they’re rather distant from the infield for the price. You’ll be more satisfied with a smartly selected Grandstand or Bleacher seat. Boxes 89–92 should be especially avoided.

Kevin:
Yes, avoided like burritos before a long stretch on the road.

Josh:
It’s the first chapter and you’re already making bathroom jokes?

Kevin:
Hey, that’s solid advice.

Compared to the second-tier options at other parks, Fenway’s Grandstands are first-rate. They’re close to the field and offer exceptional views. But buyers beware: These seats were designed for turn-of-the-century New Englanders who were apparently about five-feet, six-inches tall and had rear ends made of New Hampshire granite. The tiny seats are made of hard wooden slats. If you’re a tall man—like Kevin is—or a wide man—like Josh may someday be if he continues to eat four Fenway Sausages each time he visits Fenway—you may prefer the greater comfort of the plastic Bleacher seats.

When considering a Grandstand ticket, also realize that large metal pillars rise up from between the seats to support the Grandstand roof. The team sells “Obstructed View” seats at regular price but does clearly label these tickets “obstructed.” Buying one is something of a crapshoot. In some cases, sitting in an Obstructed View seat means you will be straddling one of those pillars for nine innings and seeing little more than peeling green paint. In other cases, it means you’ll have a great view of home plate but no view of the pitcher’s mound. In other cases, it means you’ll have to lean to one side all game but will be able to see pretty much all of the important stuff. So before you buy an Obstructed View seat ask yourself a simple question: Do you feel lucky, punk?

Otherwise, shoot for the first ten rows of the Grandstands, seeing as fans farther back have no guarantee they’ll be able to follow the full flight of pop-ups, fly-outs and home runs, owing to the overhang of the roof.

Apart from those disclaimers, we do recommend the Grandstands. Sections 19–22 provide the best view of the batter’s box. From Sections 14–17, along the first-base line, the Wall provides a delightfully looming backdrop for the game. Sections 29–31, along the left-field line, are raised and angled nicely, enabling fans to feel like they’re sitting right behind the shortstop.

The best seats in this category are found in Sections 32 and 33, out by the Green Monster. Here, there are very few Loge Boxes—or none at all—between the Grandstands and the playing field. Additionally, these seats are angled toward the infield. The only potential drawback is that Sections 32 and 33 comprise Fenway’s “Family Section,” which means ticket holders are prohibited from drinking beer in these seats. We should also note that Section 33 is the only Grandstand section that is not covered by the roof, which may be a consideration on a rainy night. The upside to Section 33 is that unlike the rest of the seats in the Grandstands, it offers comfortable plastic seats. Apparently, being exposed to the elements caused the old wooden seats to deteriorate prematurely.

Kevin:
I still think we should put that part about NO BEER ALLOWED in all caps.

Josh:
But they really are great seats for the money.

As for the right field Outfield Grandstands (Sections 1–10), they point occupants squarely toward center field, rather than the infield. As such, fans must peer over their left shoulders and, in many instances, around the roof’s support columns to see the pitcher’s mound and/or home plate. Seats in Section 10 are worth purchasing, but otherwise, we suggest spending less money for a better view in the Bleachers or more money for a better view in the Infield Grandstands.

As we’ve already said, quite a few of the Bleacher seats provide better views than the higher-priced seats in the Right Field Boxes and Outfield Grandstands. In addition, these are all comfortable plastic seats. And there are no poles to block the view.

Our favorite Bleacher seats are the ones beside the centerfield camera platform in Sections 34 and 35. This is a great place from which to call balls and strikes while awaiting home run balls.

Section 40, behind the home bullpen, offers the opportunity to both interact with the players and check out the Bleacher groupies as they flock to the screen separating the seats from the middle relievers.

The first fifteen rows of Sections 36–38 are also quite good. As you make your way toward right-field (39–43),
however, the distance from the plate steadily increases and the quality of the view diminishes. This is especially true as you climb above Row 30.

The atmosphere in Fenway’s Bleachers has changed considerably since the Henry ownership group took charge. What was once a rough-and-tumble beer-swilling part of the park has mellowed to the point where today’s Bleachers provide a comfortable climate for families. The college kids are still able to have their fun and the beer still flows, but the ushers are on high-alert for offensive behavior and violators are promptly put on notice or “asked” to leave.

Another recent change involves the steel gate that once stood on the concourse beneath the Bleachers. For generations the barrier prevented bleacher creatures from interacting with the human beings populating the rest of Fenway. Thankfully it has been removed. Today’s bleacherites may wander into the rest of the park.

Unless you enjoy watching a game of baseball from a different postal code than the one in which home plate resides, you should avoid these seats! Some are literally
behind
the JumboTron!

It seems like the Red Sox open a new premium seating area on Fenway’s narrow upper deck every other season. Unless you have a “connection,” you will find these seats hard to come by. But you’d rather sit with the real fans at field level anyway.

We don’t recommend these seats in deep right field, way up on the roof … unless you’re attending Fenway primarily to check out the skyline and catch a nice breeze.

You know a team is doing well when it can charge $20–$35 for standing room and clear most of its inventory. The spots atop the Green Monster are the costliest, but they are well worth the expense. But that could be said of many of the standing areas within Fenway, provided your knees and back can handle the rigor of standing in one place for four hours. In fact, with an Infield Grandstand Standing Room ticket you’ll see more of the game and be closer to it than you would have with a seat in the cramped and poorly angled Right Field Boxes and right-field Grandstands. Just don’t expect to follow the full flight of fly balls from this standing locale. And don’t forget your mittens if you’re going to an April game. It can get pretty windy above the first base and home plate seats.

The most important thing to remember for any fan holding a Standing Room ticket is to show up early. Stake out a good spot within your designated standing area and it will be yours all game. Fail to, and you may find yourself peering over the shoulders and between the heads of two or three people who
did
bother to show up when the gates opened.

In a shameless nod to the widespread acceptability of second-hand ticket retailers these days—even after so many years of the sports industry pillorying street-corner scalpers as the scourge of the earth—the Red Sox go so far as to name one such agency the “official on-line ticket re-seller of the Boston Red Sox.” But if you’re like us, you’d rather haggle in a litter-strewn back alley with a guy who looks like he hasn’t shaved in three days and smells like he hasn’t bathed in ten.