|
Date
|
Event
|
|
April 20, 1912
|
Fenway Park officially opens. After
two rainouts, the Red Sox defeat the New York Highlanders (now the New
York Yankees) 7-6 in 11 innings in the first professional baseball game
played at Fenway Park.
|
|
May 8, 1926
|
The first Fenway fire occurs. The bleachers
along the left-field foul line burn down and are not replaced, giving
fielders the chance to snare foul flies behind the third base grandstand.
|
|
January 5, 1934
|
The second Fenway fire occurs. A four-alarm,
four-hour blaze virtually destroys the construction underway to refurbish
the park by new owner Thomas A. Yawkey.
|
|
April 17, 1934
|
A newly rebuilt Fenway Park opens.
The Washington Senators, led by shortstop-manager Joe Cronin beat the
Red Sox, 6-5 in 11 innings. Biggest baseball crowds at Fenway: 47,627
for a Yankees doubleheader on September 22, 1935. 46,995 for a Detroit
Tigers doubleheader on August 19, 1934. And a week earlier 46,766 to
say good-bye to Babe Ruth at a Yankees doubleheader on August 12, 1934.
Those crowds will never be equaled under Fenway's current dimensions.
More stringent fire laws and league rules after World War II prohibited
overcrowding that was permitted in the Thirties.
|
|
June 9, 1946
|
Ted Williams hits a monumental 502-foot home run to right field off Detroit right hander Fred Hutchinson on. The ball lands on top of the straw hat of Joseph A. Boucher, 56, a construction engineer from Albany, NY who is sitting in section 42, row 37, seat 21. "The sun was right in our eyes," he said. "All we could do was duck. I'm glad I didn't stand up. They say it bounced a dozen rows higher, but after it hit my head, I was no longer interested." At that time the bleachers were real bleachers and not individual seats. |
|
June 13, 1947
|
Arc lights are installed at Fenway
Park, making the Red Sox the third last team among the then 16 major
league clubs to do so. The Red Sox defeat the White Sox, 5-3, in Fenway's
first night game on with Dave Ferriss getting the win. Green paint replaces
advertisements covering the left field wall, giving rise to the nickname
"The Green Monster," no more Calvert owl ("Be wise"), Gem Blades ("Avoid
5 o'clock shadow"), Lifebuoy ("The Red Sox use it") and Vimms ("Get
that Vimms feeling").
|
|
Oct. 4, 1948
|
The first playoff game in American
League history takes place at Fenway. Cleveland rookie left-hander Gene
Bearden beats the Red Sox 8-3; shortstop-manager Lou Boudreau lead the
Indians with two home runs and two singles. The defeat prevented the
only cross-town World Series in Boston history. Cleveland beat the Boston
Braves four games to two in the World Series.
|
|
Oct. 21, 1975
|
The first World Series night game occurs
at Fenway Park. The memorable Game 6, delayed three days by rain, lasts
four hours and one minute, and ends with Carlton Fisk's dramatic home
run off Pat Darcy to lead off the last of the 12th. The Red Sox tie
the game at 6-6 in the last of the eighth on Bernie Carbo's three-run,
pinch-hit home run with two outs. 1976: Fenway Park gets its first message
board in center field. The board installation is part of a construction
project that includes a rebuilding of the left field wall as well as
a new enclosed press box.
|
|
Oct. 2, 1978
|
The second playoff game in American
League history also occurs at Fenway Park. The Red Sox win their last
eight games of the regular season to tie the Yankees for first place
in the East. The infamous Bucky Dent, two-out, three-run fly ball home
run into the left-field net puts New York ahead to stay in the seventh
inning. The Red Sox leave two men on in the ninth inning and lose 5-4.
|
|
July 13, 1999
|
The 70th Major League Baseball All-Star
Game is held at Fenway Park. Baseball fans everywhere thrill to the
presentation of MLB's All-Century Team, with the ultimate finale being
an appearance by Red Sox great Ted Williams on the field. In a spontaneous
gesture, all of the players and coaches on the field surround Williams
to show their respect and appreciation for everything he means to baseball.
Sox pitcher and American League starting pitcher Pedro Martinez is named
the Most Valuable Player for his pitching performance as the AL defeats
the National League, 4-1. Pedro becomes the first pitcher in All-star
history to strike out the game's first three batters. Of the six batters
Pedro faces during his two-inning stint, five, Barry Larkin, Larry Walker,
Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Jeff Bagwell, struck out.
|