Park in is a lyric little bandbox of a ballpark. Everything is painted green and seems in curiously sharp focus, like the inside of an old-fashioned peeping type Easter egg.

—, “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu” contents

TEENS THIRTIES FIFTIES SEVENTIES NINETIES

A N E W B A L L PA R K ENTER M I D C E N T U R Y AT ALL THAT YAZ, AND MORE “ !”

F O R B O S T O N Enter Tom Yawkey FENWAY PARK A three-game series sweep is a “Yankee The 50th anniversary of

page musings page page page page 26 62

112 Massacre.” The Sox are defeated by

Tom Yawkey initiates massive changes. 164 hitting over .400 is celebrated. The Major league begins at Fen- The ’s first Ladies’ 202 page

228

way Park as the Red Sox play their plays his final game at Night is staged at Fenway. the Reds in the 1975 . movement to “Save Fenway Park!” Stadiumology first American League game on April Fenway and Ted Williams plays in his battles . Elijah “Pumpsie” hits the “pop fly” homer begins. Attendance at Fenway climbs 1 3 page 5 7 20, 1912. They win their first pennant first game. Future Hall of Famers such Green becomes the first black player and the Yankees win the one-game 9 above a record 2.5 million. The 70th 228 chapter

chapter chapter chapter and their World Series in their new as “Teddy Ball Game,” , on the Red Sox. pitches a play-off in ‘78. chapter All-Star Game takes place with the Bibliography ballpark. There are three more world , , and Bobby no-hitter; three days later, Ted Williams records his 3,000 and 400th home All-Century team in place and star of page

Doerr strut their stuff. in 1979. stars, Ted Williams. 228 championships in the decade. records his 400th career homer. Photo Credits page 228

PREFACE Index by DONALD page 20 page

E. PEASE 236 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

1910 1930 1950 1970

the Foreword 1990 page page page 22 18 Voices by Johnny 235 Acknowledgments Pesky

TWENTIES FORTIES SIXTIES EIGHTIES 21 st century

FIRE SALE TIME STARS GALORE, BUT NO CIGAR THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM MORGAN MAGIC A NEW ERA AT FENWAY PARK sells Babe Ruth to the World War II results in diminished talent Ted Williams homers in his final Yaz retires. arrives on New ownership takes over. The Curse page page page page page 84 48 the scene. The Rocket strikes out 20 182 Yankees. The Sox finish last seven and attendance. Ted Williams bats .406 136 Fenway at-bat. Yaz comes on the of the Bambino is broken as the Red 202

times. Dramatic ownership changes in one game. is a hitting in 1941. The All-Star Game is staged at Sox win world championships in 2004 scene. Two games draw less than 500 and dwindling attendance plague Fenway Park, and the “Splendid Splinter” each in 1965. pitches machine. The Sox lose the 1986 World and 2007. and Jon 4 2

Fenway Park. torques the 12–0 American League romp. 6 Series to the Mets. Morgan Magic is on Lester pitch no-hitters. A new major a no-hitter. is beaned. 8 10 chapter chapter parade.

The Red Sox win the pennant but lose to chapter The Impossible Dream season of 1967 chapter league attendance streak is set at chapter the Cardinals in the World Series. Night results in a pennant for the Red Sox Fenway Park. baseball debuts in 1947. and fan hysteria at Fenway. 4

–FORTIES––FORTIES–

STARS GALORE BUT NO CIGAR

DOM DIMAGGIO: The first time I walked into Fenway Park was a day in April 1940. It was before the season; there was ice on the field. Coming from California, it was a bit of a shock to me. I was wondering how we were going to start on time.

YEAR WON LOST PCT. GB ATTENDANCE AR

E 1949 96 58 .623 1.0 1,596,650 1948 96 59 .619 1.0 1,558,798 1947 83 71 .539 14.0 1,427,315 1946 104 50 .675 — 1,416,944 AR BY Y

E 1945 71 83 .461 17.5 603,794 1944 77 77 .500 12.0 506,975 X Y 1943 68 84 .447 29.0 358,275 O 1940 – 1949

S 1942 93 59 .612 9.0 730,340 1941 84 70 .545 17.0 718,497 ED

4 21ST CENTURY R 1940 82 72 .532 8.0 716,234 f o r e w o r d 5 The Red sox lineup that day was: to the clubhouse, where the first thing I saw was a urinal on the wall. Next to it someone Jose Offerman 2B had written: “The official urinal of the 1999 RF All-Star Game.” Equipment and trunks were Brian Daubach DH all over the place, getting ready to be loaded SS onto the equipment truck that would head Troy O’Leary LF out to in . Carl Everett CF was sitting on a crate, bat in hand, surrounded 1B by a bunch of clubhouse guys listening to him C talk about hitting and his love of the game. It Wilton Veras 3B was a Norman Rockwell scene. Ramon Martinez P In a scene that underscored the long his- TRACY NIEPORENT: I was at Fenway during the tory of the Red Sox and Fenway Park, a 100th 2000 season for a series vs. the Mets. Outside anniversary celebration was staged on May 27, the gates they were selling “Yankees SUCK” 2001. A pregame ceremony featured 88-year-old principal owner John Henry. The executive chair- T-shirts. When I reminded the chowderheads “Broadway” , who pitched for the man was , and was in that the Red Sox were playing the Mets, they Sox in the late 1930s and the , tossing the as president and CEO. disdainfully replied, “It’s Noo Yawk, same first pitch to . Swift changes were implemented. Dan thing.” Less than a month later, on June 23rd, Manny Duquette was removed as general . Mike being jerked two home runs, Port, who had held that role for the Angels, Same thing for the “Sawks” in 2000—a third totaling 964 feet. The first one was reported as replaced him. On November 25, 2002, Theo straight second-place going 463 feet. The second one was measured at Epstein, who had grown up just a mile away from finish. But there was a lot to brag about. The 501 feet, a foot short of Ted Williams’s 502-foot Fenway, replaced Port, becoming, at age 28, the winning of a second straight award by homer, the Fenway record. Manny also came up youngest in big-league history. Pedro Martinez, the winning of a second straight twice with the bases loaded and left the bases came in as manager, taking the title by Nomar Garciaparra, and the set- loaded, prompting one disgruntled rooter to bel- place of . was pitch- ting of a new Fenway park attendance record: low: “You’re no Ted Williams.” ing , coached at third, and 2,585,895. of the Yankees was no Don was hitting coach. At first was Larsen, but on September 2, 2001 he did come , in the Bob Kipper, and JOHN SHANNAHAN: On a cold February morning within one pitch of perfection—a ninth-inning Mike Stanley held down the bench coach duties. in 2001, I met my brother, who was broadcast two-strike, two-out pitch to Carl Everett. The manager at Fenway, at the ballpark. It had Sox managed a soft liner that fell in : The new owners were outsid- snowed the day before, and I had my camera for a . Mussina settled for a 1–0 victory and ers, but they were very much able to see the with me. a one-hitter. beauty of Fenway Park. They were committed “Hey,” I said, “can I get in and take some pic- Drawing 2.6 million at Fenway, an average of to its renovation. tures of the ballpark with the snow on the 32,412 a game, the Red Sox finished the 2001 sea- field?” son in second place again, with an 82–79 record. I snapped a few. Then he asked if I wanted to The new year of 2002 was one of rejoicing for page 26: crowd, 1923 above: Fans crowd the , see the clubhouse. . The old ownership group was the Yankees’ home before 1923 We went down through the Sox , out, and on January 17 opposite: “The House That Ruth Built” under construction through a door, and up a set of stairs that led approved the new Red Sox consortium headed by

6 21ST CENTURY 8 t h e v o i c e s