Ambassadors at Fenway

If you frequent Fenway Park, you have probably seen ambassadors. No, not the international, political kind, but the baseball kind. Most are hired by the Red Sox to assist and direct fans, answer questions, and interact with special guests.

Red Sox personnel wear several uniforms, which announce the department they work in. These include Security, the folks in blue who keep us safe and respond to “incidents” of fans disregarding the Fenway Park Code of Conduct. There are also folks in Facilities, wearing black shirts, who make sure the park is structurally safe and well maintained.  There are blue-shirted folks in Productions, the department that operates the scoreboards and anything audio or video related. And there are the many Fan Services folks with red shirts who are the ushers, greeters, ticket scanners, and… ambassadors.

Fenway Ambassadors are paid employees who are most commonly seen manning the Fan Services booths. Those are located near the Gate E entrance, in the Big Concourse near the elevator behind the bleachers, and in the Home Plate Concourse inside Gate D.  The ambassadors answer questions, hand out “first time at Fenway” badges, and give directions to fans.

You may have heard, just before a couple of kids shout “Play ball!”, an announcement that those kids were selected by Fenway Ambassadors among fans entering the park. Just imagine the thrill those kids experience (as do their parents), when selected to go on the field as part of the pre-game ceremonies! That is one of the cool parts of being an ambassador — giving fans something unexpected. Another is interacting with other special guests who come onto the field for pre-game recognition. Ambassadors are representing Fenway, showing a warm positive attitude and enhancing fans’ experiences.

Would you like to do those things? You can! Fenway Ambassador is one of many jobs now available at Fenway (as of March 2024). Check out the list at https://jobs.lever.co/redsox. The published overview is:

“Kindness, compassion, and positivity are a few qualities that embody a Fenway Ambassador.  Fenway Ambassadors are encouraged to use these qualities to connect with each and every fan they encounter. The role of Fenway Ambassador will require your commitment to interacting with Red Sox Nation for a minimum of 30 games during the regular season as well as be available on weekdays, weekends, and some holidays throughout the year.”

 Note the time commitment: 30 games a year. This is the least time commitment required of all currently posted jobs. And the salary? Not given, though last year it was $21 per hour. Sound good? Go for it! 

How about being an ambassador, but not an employee? Yes, that is possible. Maybe you have seen Lynne Smith, fully decked out in Red Sox gear, including her iconic hat which is a mini Fenway Park complete with Citgo sign. Lynne not only attends about fifty games a year in seats in Section 15, but also travels with the Sox on the road. She joins in other assorted Sox events throughout the year, such as baseball writers’ dinners. She is a true Super Fan, and the Red Sox honored her in 2012 with the Lib Dooley Award, given “to a Red Sox fan who best exemplifies and personifies what it means to be a Red Sox fan.”

The Red Sox also awarded Lynne official status as a “Special Ambassador” six years ago.  She certainly deserves that!  I have heard that there are others similarly recognized, though I haven’t met any of those. I wonder… what does it take to become a Special Ambassador?

For many years I have been wanting to be more active in “spreading the love” for Fenway Park. This blog is a fairly limited way to do that. But what else? Well, I could apply to become a Fenway Ambassador, but hesitate to do so for a couple of reasons, mainly because I don’t want to just man a booth for hours. I don’t want to just answer questions, I want to have a more meaningful interaction.

So, last June I asked the department of Fan Services and Entertainment if I could be a volunteer ambassador, in an unofficial capacity. “What could I do to become one?” I asked. “How would you like to hand out goodie bags to fans?” “Great! Sign me up!”
So beginning in June 2023 I collected bags of prizes to hand out to unsuspecting kids and their parents before games. These ranged from small (key rings, baseball card packs) to more substantial (brand new MLB balls, autographed photos). I handed out a few hats and T shirts, being careful to judge people’s shirt sizes before approaching them. The balls were the most fun, because I tried to have them autographed first. And here I had an advantage over the salaried Ambassadors: employees are not allowed to ask for autographs!

Typically I circulated around the park well before gates open, looking for families who got there early. People with signs, especially ones announcing a birthday, got my full attention. It’s just so much fun giving things to people unexpectedly, and seeing their faces light up. As they say, “priceless”. I love hearing “You made our day!”

One of my best stories happened inside the park, when only “early entry” folks were allowed in. Early Entry is mostly for season ticket holders and Red Sox Nation members to enter the bleachers and Green Monster two hours before game time, but also allows Club and Suite Level fans to roam the grandstands and box seats. A player, James Paxton, was signing autographs for two fans in right field by the foul line. One boy got his autograph and left. The second boy just wanted a photograph because he had nothing to sign. But I rushed down with a brand new ball and offered it. “Oh sorry.. I don’t have a pen.” But I did, so the boy got a signed ball… and his Mom couldn’t believe their luck. 

I also gave many fans other kinds of perks, including the aforesaid Early Entry. If they arrive super early, wandering on Jersey Street by gates A or D, they usually jump at the chance to enter the bleachers/Green Monster early along with the STH/RSN folks. Most do not think they could ever visit the Monster seats, even pre-game.  Another perk is visiting those Monster seats during a game. I have a Diamond Pass that allows me to take a couple of fans there for brief visits.

My favorite Monster story happened in May, during a game in which I sat in Grandstand 31. A young man, in a group of six, whispered to me that he was planning to propose to his intended fiancée during the game, and did I have any suggestions.  I said, “How about on top of the Monster?” First I went up there to ask Security if I could bring six fans up for a surprise wedding proposal, and was told, “For THAT, sure!” So a few innings later I took them upstairs and onto the Monster, and the proposal happened successfully, and all were happy.

Other perks have been upgrading standing room locations (from the Grandstand level up to the Pavilion level) and escorting people around the park, taking shortcuts through limited access areas when possible.  All in the name of “spreading the love”. All for helping Fenway Park live up to its moniker “America’s most beloved ballpark”! 

One day in August I met Doug Smith of North Carolina, standing behind Grandstand 24. I’ll let him tell the story, as published in the Richmond County Daily Journal. (Note the reference to Jay Buckley, who gives escorted baseball stadium tours each year.)
 

A little Fenway hospitality     by Douglas Smith

If Boston’s Fenway Park has a current maven, it’s sure to be Henry Taves.

A grad of both Harvard and Columbia Universities, Henry has followed the Red Sox since his Cambridge childhood in 1963. But he harbors a deeper love of major league baseball’s senior ball yard, which opened just as the Titanic was settling to the Atlantic’s bottom in 1912. I met Henry in the grandstands behind home plate during a recent Saturday afternoon tilt between the Sox and Toronto’s Blue Jays. I wasn’t supposed to be there.

Robin and I had joined a Jay Buckley group tour a few days earlier. Our seats this afternoon were in Fenway’s roof deck, drenched in glaring sunlight. Robin does sun well; El Sol and I have a bad history. By the 4th inning, even slathered in SPF-50, I went hunting for shadier climes, eventually landing in the cavernous grandstand. In a short while a graying gentleman, sporting Fenway ID, approached and began chatting about the park. “How would you like to see more of the park? I can take you up to the Green Monster.” Long time ball fans know this is the equivalent of: “Hey, come along and visit the Promised Land!”

Henry led me past several checkpoints, introducing me to attendants, as we eased into much more expensive seating zones. We passed the Legends Suite where, for around $20,000, groups of 20 can view a game with a former Sox player. I resisted an urge to shake hands with Luis Tiant.

Within moments I was above left field’s 37-foot Green Monster, an arm’s length from the Fisk Foul Pole, immortalized to long ago fans when Boston’s Carlton Fisk ended Game 6 of the 1975 World Series against Cincinnati by ricocheting a 12th inning homer off that pole. Henry and I traded stories of that game. I was on late night military duty, 5000 miles away, listening by radio. A senior at Harvard, he was present in the stands, and described the crowd’s electric reaction.

Henry possesses more than a casual interest in his hometown’s venerable ball yard. Trained in historic preservation, his professional career led him to several states, including ours, where he resided in Tarboro with his family. He performed rural architectural surveys in Edgecombe and Halifax counties, and is one of three authors of ‘The Historic Architecture of Halifax County, North Carolina’.

A New Hampshire resident now, Henry ventures to Fenway several times a season. Earlier this year, the Red Sox approached him with an offer to become an unofficial ambassador for the park. During games he enjoys approaching unsuspecting folks, like me, with treats to sights they would, otherwise, never see. His ‘Fenway Purist’ blog can be accessed online.

Robin eventually joined us, and Henry left us at Fenway’s Royal Rooters’ Club, a limited-access facility near the Ipswich entry where members enjoy better food, drinks, A/C, and Sox memorabilia dating back over a century.

We did not share Robin’s personal connection to Boston’s 86-year World Series ‘curse’. In 1946, it was St. Louis’s Enos Slaughter who raced from first base to score Game 7’s eventual winning run, denying Boston a title. Slaughter shared kinship with Robin’s maternal family in Person County.

We were just grateful for the Fenway hospitality.

Stadium Creep

No, “stadium creep” is not a Halloween monster, or a deranged fan, or a fan using hate speech.  It’s not a person, but an effect.  It’s the slow progression from “friendly Fenway” to a generic baseball stadium far from “America’s most beloved ballpark”.

Fenway Park has indeed crept along an unfortunate path from pure baseball toward… something else.  This progression has come in fits and starts, but it never stops.  It’s creeping along.

 

In older days

 

Fenway Park meant Pure Baseball from 1912 until… until 1976, when the first giant electronic scoreboard was installed, which could show advertising.  Wait — in the 1950s, musical entertainment was added in the form of organ music.  Wait — there was lots of painted advertising, even in 1912!  So was it ever pure?  Maybe not!

 

Once The Wall looked like this! Note loudspeaker horns above.

 

So I’ll say it was fairly pure from 1912 to 1976 and some years beyond.  The left-field wall plastered with advertising was “in your face” and intrusive, but you could get used to it (maybe). You didn’t have to look at it.  The organ music was piped (pun not intended) over the public address system so you couldn’t choose whether or not to listen to it, but it did not occur during play; just before and after the game, and between innings.  Oh, and after home runs.

 

In 1947 Tom Yawkey, owner of the Sox since 1933, eliminated the advertising on The Wall and painted it green, creating today’s Green Monster.  Almost all additional advertising was removed, one exception being the Gruen Watch sponsored clock on the auxiliary scoreboard behind the bleachers, which remained into the early 1960s.  This, then, was the era of highest baseball purity: from 1947 through 1975.

As a youngster in the 1960s and 1970s, I became aware of things other teams were doing to their ballparks.  The White Sox under owner Bill Veeck created a 130-foot wide “Monster” scoreboard which “exploded” with fireworks, pinwheels, and sound effects after home runs.  The Orioles played the bugle call “Charge!” at certain times.  The Athletics (of Kansas City) installed a giant horn that blasted after home runs.  These all were quite audible on the radio broadcasts.  These were the first forays into “baseball as spectacle”, or “let’s entertain the fans in other ways”.

Fenway stayed relatively sedate through the 1970s and into the 1980s.  Master organist John Kiley provided Fenway’s music from 1953 until 1989.  During those years, he became an integral part of Fenway.  His music was never intrusive or obnoxious, but was almost always upbeat and cheery.  Speaker technology limited its volume to comfortable levels.

Meanwhile, advertising was absent until 1976, with the exception of the Jimmy Fund sign on the roof in deep right, above Section 1.  The only visible commercial advertising was seen beyond Fenway’s walls, including the 3 Monks whiskey billboard beyond left center (replaced by the Windsor Canadian billboard in the 1970s), the neon Buck Printing Co. sign way beyond the bleachers, and of course the illuminated Cities Service cloverleaf in Kenmore Square, which was replaced with the Citgo animated neon sign in 1965.  Beginning with installation of the first electronic scoreboard after the 1975 season, advertising began returning to inside Fenway Park itself.  From then until now, the amount of advertising has been increasing incrementally every year.

The modern age — post-1990

Loss of purity has happened in three basic ways:  more intrusive advertising, louder sounds played far more frequently, and more cheerleading.

Advertising is probably the most unavoidable of these three things.  In today’s world, we are assaulted with advertising everywhere.  But there are different forms and types of advertising.  At the modest end of the scale are unilluminated signs, for example the W.B. Mason sign on the Monster. It’s similar to early 20th century advertising, and though it’s large, we get used to it.  It’s just “there”.  Like all the other painted signage, such as that on the short walls ringing the playing surface, it fades into the background of our minds.

Illuminated signage is more intrusive. The Gulf sign on the wall in Section 33, painted on the brick wall when first installed, was replaced with a mounted 3-D sign in 2019; it is brightly lit indirectly.  The Coca-Cola, Bank of America, and Samuel Adams signs are internally lit and enormous.  These are impossible to ignore, but like the old Buck Printing and current Citgo signs, become part of the landscape, and intrude on our experience minimally.

The 2019 Gulf sign in deep left.

 

But what’s worse are the advertisements on the videoboards that move, flash, or both.  Those intrude on our experience a lot more than passive signage.  The annoyance factor increases with the steady increase of square footage of videoboards in the park.  Having all the signage show the same moving ads is the worst.  At least the ads don’t create a 360 degree panorama as they do at some parks.

Those video boards

The enormous videoboards at Fenway had their origin in 1976. The first centerfield scoreboard, 40 by 24 feet, mainly showed dot-matrix text using ordinary light bulbs, but it had capability of showing video clips and ads. At first it created controversy, as fans didn’t like the idea of tinkering with Fenway. But it became a fan favorite, and paved the way for bigger and better boards.

The 1976 scoreboard. Saltalamacchia's name would not have fit.

As technology changed, the video square footage crept along a course to where it is today.  1988 brought color to the main board, and that was replaced by today’s high definition screen in 2012.  The Bank of America and first New Balance boards were installed (need year), and the right field terrace board replaced a large Cumberland Farms sign in 20== [date needed].  Along the baselines, the lower fascia was given four strips of video in the early 2000s , and those were supplemented by more strips on the upper fascia in 2015.  These little strips at first were low-def dot-matrix types, but were replaced with high-def color.

Early dot-matrix boards on lower fascia

 

2016 LED boards on both fascias

Providing baseball information on these strips is welcome to this fan, but the strips can be not only used but abused.  Other parks realized, “Hey, we can do light shows with those ribbons; let’s create spectacular effects and wow the fans!”  Bizarre undulating patterns were invented for them, along with comic animation, sound-level-meter mimicking, repeated words, cheerleading prompts, and flashing celebrations.  All that is most unpleasant unless you’re a video engineer.  Thankfully, most of that didn’t happen at Fenway.  But snippets of that have crept in.

Unpleasant light displays on the fascia boards.

 

I did not like seeing all of Fenway’s videoboards, large and small, coordinate themselves in a mass display. The first such use of special effects that I remember was when Craig Kimbrel was called in from the bullpen, and the boards all showed his name and a backdrop of flames.  Supposedly that was supposed to suggest how hot he was, but a fan next to me said “Kimbrel is about to go down in flames again!”. Coordinated video assault (all screens synchronized) has increased since then.  One of the worst ways is to create a fake sound level meter as a set of moving bars.  This does seem like trying to be like other parks, and is, to me, decidedly un-Fenwaylike.

Craig Kimbrel about to go down in flames?

Sound bar effects are unpleasant.

The sound onslaught

One great loss of baseball purity has been caused by louder sounds, different sounds, and more frequent sounds dished out to the fans.

The first Fenway loudspeakers were small and mounted above the fans, below the roof.  There was limited coverage in the box seats and bleachers.  In the 1940s there were speaker horns above The Wall.  In the late 1960s [date needed], an attempt was made to create big, booming sound by installing an enormous speaker array in the leftmost “garage door” in center field, now the Bleacher Bar viewing window.  That was not too successful, as time delays of sound from there conflicted with other speakers creating an echo effect.  What we have now is a multitude of powerful black speakers mounted everywhere, aimed at all seating areas.  There is little escape from them.

One of the most common complaints I have heard from fans I sit next to is that the speaker volume is much too high.  It is hard to chat with people between innings because of those speakers.  That’s simple science; the decibel levels will be checked this year and we’ll see just how loud they are.

The kind of sound has changed a lot, from simple PA announcements and organ music to an endless variety of music and sound effects, called up instantly from the control room.  Recorded music began supplanting the organ at about the time legendary organist John Kiley retired in 1989.  Each genre of music has its fans, from classic soft rock and folk to driving hip-hop, and though I’m old-fashioned in musical taste, I don’t quibble about songs.

 
What I don’t like is that the songs are played at every moment, from well before the game to many minutes after. This musical pervasiveness has crept into Fenway gradually.  Walk-up songs for batters began in the mid 1990s, as did entering songs for pitchers.  In the early 20th century, celebratory sounds began to be played after Sox players reached base.  In about 2016, a “woo woo” sound began to be played after opponents struck out. (Joe Castiglione has said repeatedly that “they’re just copying the Yankees”, who have a high pitched four-note strikeout phrase).  In 2021, sounds began after opponents made outs other than strikeouts.  And in late 2021, we first heard sounds during opponent at-bats when the count reached two strikes.

Many of the new sounds are not musical songs, but little bits of songs or drum tracks that last only a few seconds.  They are completely unnecessary and intrusive.  Some bits have rhythms that try to get fans to clap, and so are trending into the realm of cheerleading, an area of formerly virgin territory in our ballpark.

 

This trend is very annoying.  Fenway is playing catch-up to stadiums like Tropicana Field, where there are very unpleasant noises in the midst of almost every home at-bat and many of the opponents’.

 

Cheerleading

 

Stadiums, it seems obvious, play sound effects and music to try to excite fans.  Sometimes that’s supplemented with video imploring fans to “Make some noise!”  Have you attended other parks to see if that works?  It doesn’t.  At best, these noises elicit a few words called out or a few claps.  Usually they are completely ignored.  It is as if the cheerleading is supplied by the park, so the fans don’t have to do it.  The sound assortment remains the same, whether the team is way ahead, in a close game, or way behind.  What does that say?  It takes initiative away from the fans, and reduces the impact of the fans’ actual cheers.  It’s management saying “we think the fans should get more excited at this moment, so let’s play something to do that.”

Most visitors to Fenway know that we have very dedicated and passionate fans here, who know perfectly well when to cheer without being told.  Even in the mid 1960s, when we had poorly performing teams, fans spontaneously cheered when the mood struck.  In those days, there were two ways of expressing “Let’s get something going!” besides yelling.  One was steady rhythmic clapping, that kept a constant tempo over the course of several pitches, unlike today when it gradually speeds up until it dissolves in randomness.  The other was a chant that could also last a long time: “We want a hit! We want a hit!”.

Today’s equivalent is “Let’s go Red Sox! Clap, clap, clapclapclap!”  But in 2021, those cheers were sometimes interrupted by the artificial “two strike” noise.  The rolling low roar of “the wave” can be overtopped by the “opponent made an out” noise. The natural cheering of fans (and the rare booing) is a spontaneous, oprganic reaction to the game.  Why interfere with it?  Why try to orchestrate it? Why not just let it happen, as was done for over a century?  The fans can get excited and loud all by themselves!

In summary, there are many ways in which Fenway Park has become a very different place since the 1960s. Some have been very positive, like the expansion of seating, and the generous supplying of baseball information on the scoreboards.  Some have reflected general societal change, like the evolving music options. But some have been downright annoying.  I hope the painful volume level of the speakers can be adjusted, and the cheerleading attempts ended. 

 The worst is yet to come

 

As we look forward, what might we expect if Fenway fully embraces the “giant stadium” look and feel?  How about:

• video advertising on the Green Monster itself.  If the wall was totally plastered in advertising (except for the scoreboard) in the early years, why not cover the wall with video panels? Imagine how much money could be raised by putting up truly spectacular, Times-Square-worthy signage?  It could be set to green while the game is played, but then all flashing and moving advertising between innings and before and after games.  But do we fans want that?  No!

• Installing digitized strobe lighting in all the light towers, so that all those individual lights could be synchronized to produce truly spectacular light shows after home runs, after victories, and even between innings.  Blindingly bright lights are already seen at Fenway concerts, but those are taken down after the shows.  And why not add laser lights streaming around?  And how about replacing the light towers with those “toothbrush” style towers seen in Cleveland and other parks?  But do we fans want any of this?  No!

• Installing a video ribbon that completely encircles the park.  It could go all around the fascia below the suite level, across the area where the retired numbers are posted (those would be moved), across the Truly Terrace, then in a newly installed strip below the big main videoboard, then downward passing underneath the centerfield camera balcony, then along the top of the Monster.  Then more continuously moving advertising could encircle us, and we could much better be told when to cheer and when to celebrate.  Many parks do this… why not us?  But do we fans want to ever see this?  No!

• Speaking of cheering, we don’t have flashing signs now telling us when to make noise, when to clap, when to yell, when to stand.  Why not?  It would be a simple matter to create the video and sound effects to do all that.  Every other park does, so why not us?  But do we fans want that?  No!

• Adding to the noise and sound effects during the game, during at-bats and between batters.  We already do that, but why not add bugle calls, rhythmic clapping, call-and-response cheers, bump-bump-bump-bump organ chords?  Why not noises to celebrate Sox batters taking pitches for a ball?  Again, we have the technology to imitate Tropicana Field and all the others.  But do we fans want that?  No!

• Adding more entertainment between innings.  Other stadiums have character races around the warning track, like the Nationals have racing presidents. Other stadiums have “kiss cams”.  Why not us?  But do we fans want these?  No!

I’ve visited all of the other current MLB ballparks, except Globe Life Field in Texas, which I will visit this year.  Everywhere I go I feel thankful that we just don’t do some of the things done elsewhere.  We are assaulted in our ears and eyes, but not nearly so annoyingly as in other parks.  Sox fans know perfectly well when to cheer.  We put up with the unfortunate slow progression from pure baseball to baseball-themed spectacle, since we have no choice.  Actually we do have a choice: we can choose not to attend.  Maybe there is a link between lowered attendance and lowered baseball purity at Fenway?

 

Just a few years ago, Fenway Park was the ONLY ballpark in which the fans were never told when to cheer.  It used to be the ONLY ballpark with no sound effects played during an at-bat, and no sounds played between opponent batters.  Now those points of pride have been lost.  We can only hope that further creep along the path toward the generic stadium experience happens as slowly as possible, if it can’t be reversed.  Let’s keep the focus baseball, not spectacle.

 

Please, Marlins fans! We can't hear you!

Minute Maid Park detracts from the experience with an encircling ribbon.

 

The Suite Life: the inside story

 The Suite Life:  the inside story

 

View along suites from L7

Everyone knows they’re there: the luxury suites, one of the big changes that modernized “Old Fenway”.  The suites were installed in 1982 and remodeled in the 2006-2007 offseason.  They’re on Level 3, the Dell Technologies Level, stretching from either side of the Dell Technologies Club.

The best known suite is the Legends Suite, where a Red Sox legend visits during the game and is shown on the main videoboard in a fourth inning break.  Dwight Evans, Carlton Fisk, and Fred Lynn are three legends who show up there fairly frequently.  That suite is called R1, first on the right side.  But who sits in there, and in all those other suites?  And is it possible for an ordinary fan to visit one?

 

View toward wall from L7

Occupants of the suites

Fans with access to Level 3 can walk the corridors and see the signage at each door.  (How do you access Level 3? Only those with tickets to the Dell Technologies Club, the State Street Pavilion Club, or the suites themselves can go there.  Best way to access is up the escalators at the premium entrance on Jersey Street.)  The R (Right) suites are on the first base side; the L (Left) suites are on the third base side.  Lowest numbers are closest to home plate.  Occupants this year are:

R1 (Legends Suite presented by W. B. Mason): Red Sox sell on per-game basis; 20 tickets for $11,000 - $20,000 per game; also includes 4 front row Green Monster seat tickets, keepsake souvenirs, 2 parking passes.

 

R2: Sign says Morgan Lewis (global law firm with 2200+ lawyers); but Sox ticket site says it is sold on a per-game basis, 22 tickets for $6,600 to $14,300 per game.

 

R3: Bank of America, multinational bank, 8th largest in world

 

R4: EY-Parthenon, management consulting arm of Ernst & Young, one of the “big four” accounting firms

R5: shared by W.B. Mason (business products company with 1100+ trucks) and Granite City Supply (electrical equipment supplier established in 1923 in Quincy).

R6: possibly sold on a per-game basis

R7: Walsh Brothers, construction management company since 1901; managed the construction of the State Street Pavilion Club and EMC Club, among many other Fenway Park projects

R8: Arnold Worldwide, US advertising agency base in Boston, en element of the global advertising firm Havas, based in France

R9: Hill Holliday, 17th largest US advertising firm, invented “America Runs on Dunkin’” slogan

R10: the “Partners’ Suite”, shared by all the Red Sox owning partners; individual tickets are awarded to a few Red Sox Rewards auction winners each season

R11: part of combined R10?

R12: MGM Resorts, operators of hotels, casinos, and other resorts across America

R13: possibly sold on a per-game basis

R14: F. W. Webb Co., wholesale distributor of plumbing and other mechanical supplies, sponsor of BOTH Red Sox and Yankees

R15: The Kraft Group, owners of the New England Patriots and other sports endeavors, also paper industry holdings

R16: PricewaterhouseCoopers, multinational accounting and other professional services company; in charge of the Oscars award voting and therefore responsible for the “wrong envelope” blunder of 2017

R17: possibly sold on a per-game basis

R18: Dunkin’ Donuts LLC, an element of Inspire Brands, operators of 8 restaurant/food chains including Arby’s and Buffalo Wild Wings

R19: sold on a per-game basis, 22 tickets for $6,600 to $14,300 per game.

R20: sold on a per-game basis, 22 tickets for $6,600 to $14,300 per game.

R21: sold on a per-game basis, 22 tickets for $6,600 to $14,300 per game.

L1: Red Sox President Sam Kennedy

L2: Bank of America, to go with their R2 suite

L3: Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast, regional bottling company for beverages including Canada Dry and Dr Pepper, actually owned by Japanese brewery Kirin

L4: Locke Lord, international law firm based in Texas with 641 attorneys, has some roots in Boston

L5: WCVB, television station (channel 5) based in Needham MA, outgrowth of WHDH which had broadcast Red Sox games on radio and TV

L6: Pyramid Hotel Group, global hotel operator with brands including Hyatt, Doubletree, Hilton, headquartered in Boston

L7: Aramark Corp., operators of Fenway Park concessions, began in the 1930s as a vending operation in California (ARA stood for Automatic Retailers of America)

L8: sold on a per-game basis, 22 tickets for $6,600 to $14,300 per game

L9: General Electric, multinational conglomerate formed in 1892 with roots in Thomas Edison’s businesses, headquartered in Boston, made diesel locomotives until 2019

L10: NESN (New England Sports Network), created in 1984, televises most Red Sox games; 80% owned by Fenway Sports Group, owner of the Red Sox

L11: Audacy, internet radio platform, 2nd largest radio company in US with 235 stations including WEEI

L12: Citizens Bank, has 1000+ branches in the eastern US, founded 1828 in Providence RI

L13: Dell Technologies, computer equipment and services company based in Texas, formed by merger of Dell and EMC

L14: Encore Boston Harbor, casino resort in Everett MA owned by Wynn Resorts; has 2700+ slot machines

L15: Morgan Lewis, to go with suite R2

L16: Azcat Foundation, investment and personal services company based in Connecticut

L17: probably sold on a per-game basis

L18: Fenway Sports Management (FSM), global sports group managing sales, brands, special events; subsidiary of Fenway Sports Group, owner of the Red Sox

L19: shared by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Boston publisher with origins in the 1830s) and Santander Bank (formerly Sovereign Bank; US operations headquartered in Boston, part of Spanish company Santander Group, no relation to Anthony Santander of the Orioles)

L20: Effectv, advertisement analytic company creating targeted ad campaigns, part of Comcast Cable

L21: shared by Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co. (roots in Philadelphia in 1876), Chicago Title Insurance Co. (roots in Chicago in 1847), and Fidelity National Title Insurance Co.; all are parts of Fidelity National Financial.

L22: Boston Beer Co., makers of Samuel Adams beer, Twisted Tea, Truly seltzer, Angry Orchard cider, and other beverages, founded 1984

L23: Fidelity National Financial, to go with suite L21

L24: the Marvin Suite, sold on a per-game basis, 35 tickets for $10,500 to $22,750 per game ($300-650 per ticket). This is the newest suite, added when Grandstand 33 was roofed over.

View toward Dell Tech Club from L13

How to visit the suites

Here are a variety of ways to visit a luxury suite, some very difficult!

— Work at one of the companies listed above, preferably in a high-level position, or a position in which you interact with wealthy clients.

— Know someone, preferably in a high-level position, at one of the companies listed above.  Long-term clients, suppliers, or business partners often get invited, usually resulting from high-level financial relationships.

— Become a purchaser for a suite for the entire season.  I do not know the cost but I would guess on the order of $800,000, with probably a multi-year commitment necessary.

— Purchase a suite for a single game, and bring lots of friends, or sell extra tickets on StubHub.  See prices above.  Price is determined by five price tiers as determined by a calendar on the Sox website; click link at www.mlb.com/redsox/tickets/suites/dell-technologies-suites.

— Become a high-roller at the Encore Casino in Everett, spending lots of money there.  Tickets in L13 are handed out as “comps”, just like hotel rooms and other bonuses are.

— As a season ticket holder, accumulate enough points in your Red Sox Rewards account to become the winning bidder in an auction for “Tickets in the partners’ suite” (R10).

— Search many, many games on the Red Sox single-game ticket website.  Surprisingly, once in a while, suite tickets appear.  The Purist bought one of these for May 28th this year, in Suite L7.

— Search many, many games on the StubHub website.  Surprisingly, once in a while, suite tickets appear.  The Purist bought one of these for May 7 this year, in Suite L13.

— As a result of a visit by one of the last two methods, develop a relationship with the contact person for that particular suite.  Though unlikely, it might then be possible to ask to buy a ticket or two for a certain game.

The suite experience

You really do feel like a special guest, not just a fan, as you enter the door of a suite.  Where else do you have a private restroom with TV, comfy leather couch facing a giant TV, coat closet, pizza warming stand, champagne bucket, heated seats?  It’s just about as good as it gets.  Every true fan should put a suite visit on their bucket list.  Maybe pricey, but worth it once in your life!

L13, inward view

 

Most suites are linear, with the long axis toward the field.  The restroom and coat closet are in back, then the kitchen/serving area with cabinets, refrigerator, icemaker, and sink.  Next is the plush upholstery area with the large TV, which may be tuned to any station desired.  In 2019 I was in L7 and fans were closely watching the Masters golf tournament on the TV instead of the game.

 

L13, outward view

 

From there you are near the door to the outdoor seating.  There are high stool seats on either side; in L13 the three stools to the right have a food/drink counter just inside the window, which may be slid open vertically.  Outdoor seats are numbered, but according to suite etiquette you shouldn’t absolutely insist on having your specified seat for the whole game.  Some tickets have numbers higher than those on the seats (meaning some patrons are assumed to be indoors).

 

There are at least two outdoor seats with a drink counter in the third row, which is very handy if you’re using a scorebook.  All the outdoor seats are warmed by overhead radiant heaters, but the heat is not uniform and may be slightly inadequate on a chilly, windy day.  At each side of the seating area, you can chat with those just across the rail in the adjoining suite, and compare notes on the food available.

 

 

Important on cold days!

There are NESN monitors in overhead spaces.  And some suites have fancy video cameras discretely placed overhead.  They are aimed at the infield, for both in-house video and proprietary MLB use during umpire challenges.  You’d be surprised at how many stationary cameras are all over the park… several dozen.

 

Some fixed cameras are made by Spiideo, suppliers of incredible camera technology to many sports teams and leagues around the world.

Food choices

The suites do not come with any food or drink except tap water.  Special menus give lots of choices, but the catch is, each item serves TEN guests.  This year’s menu has the following:

Warm, salty pretzel bites with mustard, $75

Cracker Jack (bagged), $45

Ballpark peanuts (bagged), $55

Ballpark nut mix, assorted, $60

Souvenir popcorn buckets, $55

Kettle potato chips with onion dip, $75

Tostitos tortilla chips with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, $70

Classic antipasti assortment, $165

Mozzarella sticks with sauce, cheese, basil, $95

Vermont fried chicken wings with maple syrup/chili sauce, $150

Buffalo wings with cheese, carrots, celery, $150

Vegetable crudités with ranch dressing, $110

Garden salad w/vinaigrette, $75, grilled chicken $50 extra

Caesar salad, $85, grilled chicken $50 extra

Seasonal fruits & berries, $100

Sal’s cheese pizza (whole 16” pie), $52

Sal’s pepperoni pizza (whole 16” pie), $57

Kayem Fenway Franks, rolls, sauerkraut, $90 (gluten-free buns $2.50 each)

Kosher style hot dogs, rolls, sauerkraut, $90 (gluten-free buns $2.50 each)

Veggie hot dogs, rolls, sauerkraut, $90 (gluten-free buns $2.50 each)

Chicken tenders with honey mustard, $115

Spicy fried chicken sliders with pickles, sriracha aioli, lettuce, $95

Cavendish french fries, $90

Cavendish potato barrels (tater tots?), white truffle, herbs, cheese, $100

New England Clam Chowder, $90

Yankee Lobster Co. lobster rolls, $360

Kayem Italian sausages, rolls, peppers & onions, $110

Ice cream novelty bars in a souvenir Red Sox cooler, $110

House-made cookies & brownies, $95

Ice Cream Cart visit to the suite, guests can create their own sundaes, $9.75 per sundae

Soft drinks, water, juices, per 6-pack, $27

Domestic beer, per 6-pack, $57

Craft beer, per 6-pack, $65

Hard seltzers, ciders, cocktails, per 6-pack, $62-$67

Wine, per bottle, $50-$150

Reserve List (per bottle):

Nickle & Nickel merlot, $210

Far Niente Chardonnay, $210

William Selyen pinot noir, $340

Dom Perignon champagne, $400

From this list, you can see that food and beverage service can easily reach $500 or even $1000.  Six Cokes and ten Fenway Franks? $117.  Ten lobster rolls and a bottle of Dom Perignon?  $760.

L13, galley area. Ice-maker in back corner.

Changes at Fenway, April 2022

 

Sunday, April 10, 2022

After an unusually long offseason -- with no regular season games the first half of April -- the gates of Fenway open to fans again April 15, 2022.  The owners' lockout and owners/players negotiations concluded successfully just in time to make a 162-game season possible.

April 8th through 10th was Season Ticket Holder Batting Practice Weekend, when we were given the chance to "take batting practice" at "home plate".  Iron Mike (the pitching machine) hurled ten straight pitches to each of us, but home plate was covered with a tarp with a home plate painted on... not exactly an authentic experience, but a fun one.  I made good but weak contact with seven pitches, getting the farthest about 200 feet before it stopped rolling.  Plus two foul tips and a decent bunt toward third.  Few folks bunted, so I got a few cheers from those waiting in line.

We could walk around a bit, but mostly in sections 31 to 33, the Monster seats, and the concourse near Gate E.  The park looked great, with everything fresh and clean.  Many areas were freshly painted, such as the famous steel "poles".

Stencils for section numbers

The most obvious change this year is the "Truly Terrace" perched behind the bleacher sections 39 to 43.  There is a standing room area literally joined to the bleachers, and above that is an open area that is part of a rentable event space.  The new structure sits atop the old Laundry Building/Garage, which is between the park and the new theatre complex still rising in the triangle bounded by Ipswich and Lansdowne Streets.  Above the event space is an enlarged, widened video board, which will have room for both teams' lineups.  There is also a new fascia video board (ribbon) above the standing room area.

 

The Truly Terrace and New Balance scoreboard

 

The Truly Terrace looks professionally designed and built from a distance, but it also represents a very unfortunate situation:  The rear wall of the 1934 bleacher structure was demolished, as were three or four rows of the bleachers themselves.  If only the new facility were built overlooking the historic bleachers, with three passageways cut into the concrete wall to give fans access at the top of each stairway.  New construction is one thing -- it is in evidence almost everywhere around the park in the upper levels -- but cutting away large pieces of the park's historic building fabric is much more serious.

Miscellaneous changes in 2022

— The park is almost totally cashless, to minimize personal contact and to eliminate cash handling.  Various digital options and credit cards work, as does “Fenway Pay”, a credit-card-linked system used by season ticket holders to earn points in Red Sox Rewards.  If you only carry cash, you must use “reverse-ATMs” to convert the cash to a plastic gift card.  These RATMs were seen inside Gate B and Gate E.
 

— While Mo Vaughn strolled toward the infield in the Opening Day festivities, a drone flew around with its video aired on the jumbotron.  I had not seen a drone within Fenway before.

— The umpires were not listed anywhere on Opening Day, just announced on the PA.

— “FLUFFER NUTTER BITES” ($14.50) and a “CHEETOS DOG” ($8.50) were available in Aramark’s experimental food booth under the bleachers.  This was the only spelling mistake noticed so far this year on the menu boards.

— However, there were several mistakes to the lyrics of Sweet Caroline and the National Anthem shown on the New Balance scoreboard, caused by inadvertent transcription glitches between the former board and the new one.  Acting as quality control, the Purist alerted the scoreboard crew and the errors were corrected.

— Wifi boosters were placed in the bleachers under certain seats in rows 4, 9, 14, 20, and 25.  Ushers report that some fans have complained about the reduced spaces under their seats.

— Security personnel are wearing a new patch this year (as the Sox players are wearing Remy’s ‘2’ patch).  It says 206.  A sign above Gate A explains, it is in loving memory of security supervisor Donny Bowes, who died tragically in a car accident in March.  Bowes’s assigned radio number was 206.

 

 

— Gate A is now sponsored by Aspiration Partners Inc., presumably because the name starts with A.  Aspiration is not a bank but an SEC-registered broker-dealer which offers “socially-conscious and sustainable cash management services and investment products”.  They measure emissions for corporations and offer carbon-offset strategies to help the corporations reach climate-impact goals.

Aspiration is now the Official Sustainability Partner of the Red Sox.  The good news about that is that they are helping the planet.  The bad news is that Gate A is now “sponsored”… and the name is also painted in large white letters right on Fenway’s green grass along the baselines in foul territory.  The Purist cries “Foul!”

In coming months, are we going to be treated (or our eyes assaulted) by seeing the Draft Kings Gate D?  The CVS Gate C?  The Bank of America Gate B?  Hope not!

A tour of the new Truly Terrace

The Truly Terrace is a standing room mingling area, a bar/concessions area, and the home of a new NESN studio.

 

The Terrace is eight steps higher that the upper grandstand/bleacher elevator level, with two stairs and a ramp gaining access.  To extend this new floor level into the bleachers, the top five rows of the bleachers were removed and that space leveled with new concrete.  Row 45 is the last row of old 1934 concrete.  In section 43, the space beyond row is a small flat area with eight barstools.  In sections 39, 41, and 42, two rows of seats were reinstalled, and two rows of barstools added.  This area was jammed Opening Day, except for the special little area in section 43.

Entering into the enclosed terrace from the south, one first comes to an enormous double sided Truly bar, yet another place for fans to crowd into to get more alcoholic drinks.  Past that, one sees the new NESN studio, featuring a wall of baseballs behind the NESN logo.  The on-air crew faces away from the field with the park as the backdrop.  This space is much more polished than the former street level studio near the corner of Jersey and Van Ness Streets.

Away from the field from the bar are two new concepts in food and drink.  “Truly Takeout” offers twelve food and three drink choices, which fans can order at four kiosks or via the Ballpark App.  Offerings include a lobster roll for $31.00, the “market price” on Opening Day.

Near the takeout area is a walk-in Drink Market, with beverage cans and bottles and a few snacks.  Fans pick out their choices and then place them in a three-dimensional box frame.  Optical scanners and weight sensors detect what was put there, and a few seconds later a screen shows what you’re buying and how much you owe.  The system is made by Sbot Technologies (that’s not a misspelling), otherwise known as Caper, is called the “AI Counter”.  It is said to decrease transaction time by 70%.  An employee is still needed to monitor customers and check for adult IDs for alcoholic drink purchases.

There are restrooms available on this level as well.  This will benefit fans sitting in the upper bleachers as the new restrooms are closer that the ones at ground level quite a distance away.

The Truly Terrace looks like it will be a successful addition to Fenway.  It adds spaces that fans will happily use.  It does not look unattractive.  But as I said earlier, all that comes at a hefty price:  destruction of a part of historic Fenway.  When the current ownership group began multi-year renovations after assuming control in 2002, they adopted a “do no harm” approach.  Various types of harm has been done to old Fenway during the last two decades of modernization, but most of that harm was done in superstructure (ironwork supporting the grandstand roof and the roof itself) and rear walls (such as that between the park and the Jeano Building, where the Third Base Deck etc. are).  But to me, this harm is worse, because it happened in a very visible part of the park.

A tour of the new 521 Overlook

Above the Truly Terrace is another new gathering place, but without concessions.  Named for the number of home runs Ted Williams hit, the 521 Overlook is a set of four enclosed function rooms with an outdoor area attached.  The whole area held a “Private Reception” Opening Day.  These are basic, rentable areas, with the two central rooms (521 B and 521 C) able to be combined into one large room.  A decorative entrance sign incorporates 100 bats.

Room 521 B and 521 C combined

Behind the four rooms is a carpeted hallway decorated with oversize prints of historic Red Sox photos.  That hallway serves restrooms, a kitchen, two passenger elevators and an enormous freight elevator, and a sure sign of ritziness: a coat check room.

 

Admittance to this level is controlled by Security, with only designated standing room tickets being valid for entrance.  The Red Sox ticket purchase pages do show this area, but it seems no tickets are available to the public at this time.  Similar to the Sam Deck standing room, it's another area for one to observe the game from afar.

Return to Fenway Park! April 2, 2021

First batter on Opening Day 2021

 

On April 2, 2021, fans returned to see a baseball game 551 days after the last time they could do that.  On September 29, 2019, 35,427 fans watched the Sox beat the Orioles 5 to 4.  On April 2, 2021, 4,452 fans watched the Orioles beat the Sox 3 to 0, in a disappointing start to the season.

The return to Fenway meant a lot more than watching a dreary game in chilly 37° conditions, at least for me.  I had gone through Fenway withdrawal during the shortened Covid season of 2020 with zero fans.  After the festivities of Winter Weekend in Springfield, Mass. in January of that year, and after the heartwarming delivery of 193 paper tickets in the Purist’s mailbox, the virus dashed our hopes of ever using those tickets and seeing those players we saw in Springfield.  We STHs — Season Ticket Holders — would be literally holding season tickets all year, unable to use them.  Maybe in fifty years they will be worth a lot on eBay as the last paper tickets sold by the Red Sox.

Returning to Fenway meant not just reentering our shrine to baseball, “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark”, but reconnecting with friends I’ve made over the years.  Before each game, I make the rounds through the park checking in with about a dozen employee friends.  Some of them I correspond with sporadically through text or email, but seeing them again in person helped bring back one aspect of normalcy.  And it was great to reconnect with a good baseball buddy as we shared seats in my socially distanced “pod” for two.  Our sharing of baseball philosophy, Fenway minutiae, and life experiences helped make up for the poor brand of baseball in front of us.

In making the rounds outside and inside the park, there were lots of changes noticed since 2019.  They include:

MGM Music Hall crowding the bleachers

 

— The MGM Music Hall Theatre is being built in the triangle of Lansdowne and Ipswich Streets, in the aftermath of destruction of much of the “Laundry Building” which occupied the section next to Fenway.  The destroyed portion was recently a parking garage; the remaining portion houses trash handling, Aramark’s employee and vendor operations, the Champions Club, the Royal Rooters Club, and the remote WEEI studio.  In plans of this project published two years ago, the theatre was shown as rising behind the bleachers with spaces designed to connect to the back of the bleachers, offering a new concession and gathering area.  Unfortunately this would necessitate the destruction of the original 1934 rear wall of the bleachers.  This non-reversible act would violate the integrity and sanctity of Fenway Park.

Hornitos Cantina in Section 5

 

— In the rear of Grandstand Section 5, the Tully Tavern whisky bar has been transformed into the Hornitos Cantina tequila bar.  Whereas the Tully Tavern seats were sold individually, the Hornitos Cantina is, at least through May, a group ticketing area sold as one private space for 12 or 24 guests on “socially distanced barstool seats”.  For Opening Day, $5400 bought seats and meals for 24 guests (including clam chowder, garden salad, chicken sandwich, Italian sausage, Fenway franks, cookies, brownies, soft drinks, beer, and wine).  For the Tampa Bay series, $3600 for 24, or $150 apiece.  That’s a lot of money for good food and seats in what many fans consider the worst grandstand section.

Paper towels are back!

 — A Purist prayer has been answered, thanks to Covid:  paper towel dispensers have been restored in all restrooms, and electric hand dryers have been deactivated.  Blowing bacteria or viruses around with those dryers is obviously a health hazard.  But beyond that, the fan experience at Fenway Park is inarguably improved by making paper towels available once again, as I wrote here in 2017:  “Why?  Because paper towels have many more uses at a ballpark than merely to dry hands.  They are much better for drying faces, and they are the only proper way to clean up children’s messy hands or faces, wipe sweat from the brow or neck on a hot day, or wipe moisture off a seat if it has rained (and an usher is unavailable).  In most cases napkins are a poor substitute in doing these tasks.  Napkins disintegrate when wiping off a wet seat, for example.”

New batting cages under RF grandstand

 

— Changes in the clubhouses involve spreading everyone out (each player gets three lockers, with plastic between players).  This caused spillover into the trainer’s room, and pushed the trainers into the media room.  More batting cage space was needed, and so batting cages were installed under the third base stands, screened off by fencing and opaque tarp material.

There are numerous new health safety protections and protocols everywhere, directed by signage and structures in many areas.  These include:

You can't be blocked by tall fans in front of you.

A lot of Monster seats are blocked off.

— The most basic change is limiting attendance to 4500 fans (12 percent).  Most seats have been tied in the raised position with zip ties.  Those seats that are still operable are in “pods” of two or four seats, with the pods scattered and widely spaced.  This limitation may be eased if state or local authorities permit it.  Pods are not laid out in badly obstructed spots or in the upper rows of the grandstands and bleachers.

— Signs urge fans to be socially distanced entering the park and in other congested places.

— A “no bag” policy to minimizes security employees’ contact with your belongings.  Actually there are some exceptions: diaper bags, medical equipment or supplies, and bags (basically purses) 9” x 5” or smaller.  I would guess that diaper bags unaccompanied by babies are not allowed.  Passing through the metal detectors is a little different.  There are no trays for phones and metal objects; you are told to hold your phone close to your chest and walk through.

— an all-electronic ticket policy means no more paper tickets.  Naturally, the Purist finds this most untraditional and inconvenient.  I have always chosen the paper ticket option (at the expense of some Red Sox Rewards points) for ease of handling tickets in certain situations.  For example, I donate some tickets to charities at dinners I attend (for example the annual Dinner in the Depot held by the Mass. Bay Railroad Enthusiasts).  I auction them off in person, and then hand the winner the tickets.  Or I send tickets to other charities by mail, or sell some to friends in person.  They like having the actual tickets to handle and keep as souvenirs.

The electronic tickets have new protection devices this year to prevent misuse and fraud.  Barcodes are not sent to ticket holders until 48 hours before game time.  When they do appear, they have moving images that make screenshots invalid, much like the digital tickets on the MBTA commuter rail.  One side effect of this is that scalpers will have a difficult time.  Tickets can be forwarded to friends via the Red Sox (or sent to StubHub to sell on the secondary market), but I’m not sure how sales on the street would be possible.

You must have a smartphone to enter the park, since the Ballpark App is the only way to display the barcodes.

— Only a few concession stands are open, because of the small capacity.  The open ones have plexiglass shields protecting employees.  (Similarly, plexiglass protects other employees anywhere they might be close to fans.)  And the concessions are trying to become “contactless”, encouraging RFID credit cards and discouraging cash.  Again, contact between employees and fans is being minimized any way possible.

Concessions items include several familiar offerings, but individual pre-packaged servings are more prevalent.  Don’t look for those condiment dispensers… they have been dispensed with!

— Masks must be worn at all times, unless you are actively eating or drinking IN YOUR OWN SEAT.  Or if you are younger than two years old.  Gaiters and bandanas are prohibited.

— Players and employees have been directed to refrain from throwing balls into the stands.  Players still do that anyway, but the ballboys do not.

— the security employee normally standing on the field down the third base line is no longer there… he’s just inside a gate sitting in a fan’s seat.  And the ballgirls down the foul lines are no longer on the field.

— Paper 2021 schedules are not handed out anywhere, though you can request them by mail.

— There are hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the park.

— Because of the small seating capacity, artificial background noise is piped into all the loudspeakers.  It is a very unpleasant, scratchy, abrasive noise, like the noise you get with a radio turned way up but not tuned to a station.  Even with 4500 fans, there is a fair amount of crowd noise when things are happening on the field, so the fake background isn't always necessary, but maybe the players like it that way.  Actually, the crowd noise reminded me of games in the mid-1960s when attendance was very low (attendance was only an average of 8052 in 1965).