The controversy about whether Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox, should be replaced or renovated has lingered over Boston and the Sox since mid-summer. I have read several pieces on this topic and have listened to the opinions of others. Through this, I have come to a conclusion. Fenway Park should be replaced.
Fenway Park, the oldest ballpark in the majors, was built in 1912, with its first game being played on April 20, 1912 against the New York Highlanders (now the Yankees). Many great ball players have stepped on the same field which Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez do every year. The likes of Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Carl Yastremski have played with all their hearts on this field. Fenway Park has more history in it than Britannica Encyclopedia. Fenway has a charm that exists and every baseball player dreams of having an opportunity to play on it. There is something magical about Fenway that cannot be described. Now the question arises, should Fenway Park be replaced?
No, say groups such as the "Save Fenway Park" group, who think it can be renovated with the addition of luxury suites, club seats, concessions and all other necessities of a modern stadium and still maintain the original park. They even say they can do it without moving out the Red Sox for a season if the project is carried out in sections over several years. The next question is why save an old, run-down park where the seats are cramped, there are electrical and plumbing problems, and worst of all, there aren't enough luxury suites? "It should be preserved for no better reason than that so that our children and their children can go to the park and say: 'That's the mound where Babe Ruth pitched. That's the box where Ted Williams swung his bat. That's the foul pole Carlton Fisk homered off. That's the Wall that Bucky Dent homered over,'" says Jim Caple, a writer of ESPN.com.
An architectural team led by Rolando Llanes has created a plan to renovate Fenway Park. One of the design's key elements is to push some of the modern-day amenities into a building that would replace what is now a small parking garage owned by the Red Sox. Secondly, Llanes calls for the demolition of the current ring of seats behind home plate and along the first-and third-base lines, to be replaced with wider seats that also offer more legroom. Finally, the plan proposes for the addition of 400 "Monster seats" above the Green Monster in left field. In all, Llanes' plan delivers 40,000 seats, the Sox propose for 44,000 seats; 4,500 club seats, the Sox call for 5,000 club seats; and 67 suites, the team proposes for 100 luxury suites. Even with all these designs, Fenway Park is old and needs to be replaced for the Sox to remain competitive in the future.
I know it's tough for the fans in New England, but Fenway should be replaced. I am a huge Red Sox fan and I understand the history that goes with it. Unfortunately, the bottom line in today's economy is that you have to create a stadium that can generate a lot of revenue from places other than ticket sales. Fenway only has 33,000 seats and that's the reason why the Red Sox have the most expensive ticket prices in baseball. The Red Sox need to have a stadium with corporate luxury suites, real ones, not those things like the 600 Club they have thrown up in recent years. Do not get me wrong; I do not want the Sox to get rid of what makes Fenway, Fenway. Build a new stadium for the Sox and find a way to keep the Green Monster, the unique field dimensions, and Pesky's Pole. They would make a terrible mistake if they do not include these things in whatever new ballpark is built.
Well, there you have it. Fenway should be replaced. The way the economics of baseball are today, if the Red Sox do not get a new stadium, ten years from now it will be hard for them to compete and put a championship-caliber team on the field. I believe the fans would rather see a championship-caliber team in a new park than a last-place team in an old, broken-down Fenway Park. The bottom line is Fenway Park is antiquated, old and probably getting to the point of being unsafe. "Save Fenway" groups only put off the inevitable. It's time to move into the 21st century.