Fenway Park in Boston 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. —JOHN UPDIKE, “HUB FANS BID KID ADIEU” COntents TEENS THIRTIES FIFTIES SEVENTIES NINETIES A N E W B A L L PA R K ENTER TOM YAWKEY M I D C E N T U R Y AT ALL THAT YAZ, AND MORE “SAVE FENWAY PARK!” 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 Ted Williams 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 baseball begins at Fen- The American League’s first Ladies’ 202 PAGE 228 way Park as the Red Sox play their Babe Ruth plays his final game at Night is staged at Fenway. Jimmy Piersall the Reds in the 1975 World Series. movement to “Save Fenway Park!” StaDIUMOLOGY first American League game on April Fenway and Ted Williams plays in his battles Billy Martin. Elijah “Pumpsie” Bucky Dent 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,” Joe Cronin, on the Red Sox. Mel Parnell pitches a play-off in ‘78. Carl Yastrzemski CHAPTER All-Star Game takes place with the BibLIOgraphY ballpark. There are three more world Lefty Grove, Jimmie Foxx, and Bobby no-hitter; three days later, Ted Williams records his 3,000 hit and 400th home All-Century team in place and star of PAGE Doerr strut their stuff. run 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 Harry Frazee sells Babe Ruth to the World War II results in diminished talent Ted Williams homers in his final Yaz retires. Roger Clemens 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. Wade Boggs 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. Dave Morehead pitches machine. The Sox lose the 1986 World and 2007. Clay Buchholz 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. Tony Conigliaro 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 FOREWORD 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 Trot Nixon RF All-Star Game.” Equipment and trunks were Brian Daubach DH all over the place, getting ready to be loaded Nomar Garciaparra SS onto the equipment truck that would head Troy O’Leary LF out to spring training in Florida. Johnny Pesky Carl Everett CF was sitting on a crate, bat in hand, surrounded Mike Stanley 1B by a bunch of clubhouse guys listening to him Jason Varitek 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” Charlie Wagner, who pitched for the man was Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino was in that the Red Sox were playing the Mets, they Sox in the late 1930s and the 1940s, tossing the as president and CEO. disdainfully replied, “It’s Noo Yawk, same first pitch to Carlton Fisk. Swift changes were implemented. Dan thing.” Less than a month later, on June 23rd, Manny Duquette was removed as general manager. Mike being Manny Ramirez 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 American League East 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 Cy Young award by homer, the Fenway record. Manny also came up youngest general manager in big-league history. Pedro Martinez, the winning of a second straight twice with the bases loaded and left the bases Grady Little came in as manager, taking the batting title by Nomar Garciaparra, and the set- loaded, prompting one disgruntled rooter to bel- place of Joe Kerrigan. Tony Cloninger was pitch- ting of a new Fenway park attendance record: low: “You’re no Ted Williams.” ing coach, Mike Cubbage coached at third, and 2,585,895. Mike Mussina of the Yankees was no Don Dwight Evans was hitting coach. At first was Larsen, but on September 2, 2001 he did come Tommy Harper, in the bullpen 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 pinch hitter managed a soft liner that fell in DAN WILSON: The new owners were outsid- snowed the day before, and I had my camera for a single. 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: Opening Day crowd, 1923 ABOVE: Fans crowd the Polo Grounds, see the clubhouse. Red Sox Nation. The old ownership group was the Yankees’ home before 1923 We went down through the Sox dugout, out, and on January 17 Major League Baseball 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.