| Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Opened | April 20, 1912 |
| Capacity |
35,000 (1912) 33,557 (2001 - day games) 33,993 (2001 - night games) |
| Owned By | The Boston Red Sox |
| Architect: | Osborn Engineering |
|
Dimensions:
Left Left-Ctr Center Center-(Deep) Right-Ctr Right Backstop |
310 ft. 388 ft. 390 ft. 420 ft. 383 ft. 302 ft. 60 ft. |
Fenway Park is the home stadium for the Boston Red Sox baseball club. It is located near and named for the Fenway region in the heart of Boston, which in turn is named for the nearby fens, or marshes. It opened on April 20, 1912, the same day as the now-defunct Tiger Stadium in Detroit. This makes it the oldest ballpark in active use in Major League Baseball.
The stadium is most famous for the "Green Monster", the imposing, 37-foot-tall (11 meters) left field wall, only 310 feet (94.5 meters) from home plate down the left field line. For its first two decades, Fenway's left field sloped gently up as it neared the wall; this hill was known as "Duffy's Cliff" in honor of Duffy Lewis, Sox leftfielder in one of baseball's greatest early outfields, which had Harry Hooper in right, and the Grey Eagle, Tris Speaker, patrolling center.
Other notable features include "The Triangle", a region of center field where the walls form a triangle 420 feet (128 meters) from home plate, and "Pesky's Pole", the foul pole down a shallow right field line named for Johnny Pesky, a light-hitting shortstop who curled many of his homers around the pole. The power alleys are 378 (?) feet (115 meters) from home plate in left field and 380 feet (116 meters) from home plate in right. It is a hitter's ballpark, especially during July and August when the wind blows out to left field, carrying balls up to and over the Green Monster.
The park holds approximately 34,000 spectators. This number has increased over the years as seats have been added in what was once foul ground and throughout the upper decks, and most recently on top of the Green Monster. Some people have proposed increasing the seating capacity by up to 10,000 more seats through the expansion of upper decks, while others have proposed tearing down the stadium and rebuilding a similar one nearby.
The National Football League's Boston Redskins played at Fenway from 1933 to 1936. The American Football League's Boston Patriots played at Fenway from 1963 to 1968.
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