Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston , Massachusetts . Located at 4 Yawkey Way , it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912 , and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use . It is one of two " classic " ballparks still in use , the other being Chicago ' s Wrigley Field . Considered to be one of the best - known sports venues in the world , it has been the oldest venue used by a professional sports team in the United States since the 1991 demolition of Comiskey Park in Chicago . Because of the ballpark ' s age and constrained location in the dense Fenway – Kenmore neighborhood , the park has had many renovations and additions over the years not initially envisioned , resulting in unique , quirky features , including " The Triangle , " " Pesky ' s Pole " , and most notably the famous Green Monster in left field . Dedicated Red Sox fans have sold out every Red Sox home game since May 15 , 2003 ; in 2008 , the park sold out its 456th consecutive Red Sox game , breaking a Major League Baseball record . Fans who attended this game received gifts to celebrate this accomplishment . As of March 30 , 2011 , the Red Sox have had 631 consecutive sellouts , which is easily the best in Major League Baseball history . The sellout streak is aided by the Red Sox ' s fan base as well as the fact that , as of 2011 , Fenway Park has the third lowest maximum capacity of any MLB stadium ; it is one of the seven MLB ballparks that cannot accommodate at least 40 , 000 spectators . Besides baseball , Fenway Park has been the site of many other sporting and cultural events , including professional football games for the Boston Redskins and the Boston Patriots , concerts , soccer and hockey games , political and religious campaigns . 2012 will mark Fenway Park ' s centennial , with the Red Sox making plans ( such as a distinctive commemorative logo just as they did for Fenway ' s 75th and 90th birthdays ) for the celebration , though most have not yet been announced . History . The Red Sox moved to Fenway Park from the old Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds . In 1911 , owner John I . Taylor bought the land bordered by Brookline Avenue , Jersey Street , Van Ness Street and Lansdowne Street and developed it into a larger baseball stadium . Taylor claimed the name Fenway Park came from its location in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston , which was partially created late in the nineteenth century by filling in marshland or " fen s " , to create the Back Bay Fens urban park . However , given that Taylor ' s family also owned the Fenway Realty Company , the promotional value of the naming at the time has been cited as well . Like many classic ballparks , Fenway Park was constructed on an asymmetrical block , with consequent asymmetry in its field dimensions . Attendance at the park has not always been great , and reached its low point late in the 1965 season with two games having paid attendance under 500 spectators . Its fortunes have risen since the Red Sox ' 1967 " Impossible Dream " season , and on September 8 , 2008 with a game versus the Tampa Bay Rays , Fenway Park broke the all - time Major League record with its 456th consecutive sellout , surpassing the previous record held by Jacobs Field ( now Progressive Field ) in Cleveland , Ohio . On Wednesday , June 17 , 2009 the park celebrated its 500th consecutive Red Sox sellout . According to WBZ - TV , the team joined three NBA teams which achieved 500 consecutive home sellouts ; one of those teams was the Larry Bird - era Boston Celtics of the 1980s . Former pitcher Bill Lee has called Fenway Park " a shrine " . Today , the park is considered to be one of the most well - known sports venues in the world . Changes to Fenway Park . Some of the changes include : Proposed ( then canceled ) new Fenway Park . On May 15 , 1999 then Red Sox CEO John Harrington announced plans for a new Fenway Park to be built near the existing structure . It was to have the same dimensions on the field , include a new Green Monster , basically be a replica of the current park , but be modernized to replace some of the old features of Fenway Park . Some sections of the old Fenway Park were to be preserved ( mainly the original Green Monster and the third base side of the park ) as part of the overall new layout . Most of the old park was to be demolished to make room for new development , with one section remaining to house a baseball museum and public park . This was a highly controversial idea , as most Boston area sports fans consider Fenway Park to be sacred ground , and demolishing the old park would have caused a significant outcry ( as did the closure and later demolition of Tiger Stadium that same year after decades of grassroots efforts to try to save it ) . Several groups sprang up , such as " Save Fenway Park " to try to block the move . All involved parties wrangled for several years on the details of the new stadium . One plan even involved building a " Sports Megaplex " in South Boston , where a new Fenway would be located next to a new stadium for the New England Patriots . The Patriots ultimately built a new stadium in Foxborough , Massachussetts , their home throughout most of their history , and that plan was abandoned . Even after several more rounds of deliberations , the Red Sox could not reach an agreement with the city of Boston for a new stadium . In 2005 , the Red Sox ownership group announced that the team would stay at Fenway Park indefinitely . After finishing 10 years of improvements to Fenway , spending $ 285 million to renovate , improve , rebuild the ballpark , in 2011 team president Larry Lucchino stated in an interview that all renovations are complete . At the same time , he said that engineers have told the team that the structure has 40 – 50 years of life remaining and that " there is nothing in the plans ( for a new ballpark ) " . Features . Its location in the Kenmore Square area includes many buildings of similar height and architecture , causing it to blend in well with its surroundings . This results in the park appearing smaller and less imposing than other major outdoor sports venues in the country . When pitcher Roger Clemens arrived in Boston for the first time in 1984 , he took a taxi from Logan Airport and was sure the driver had misunderstood his directions when he announced their arrival at the park . Clemens recalled telling the driver " No , Fenway Park , it ' s a baseball stadium . . . this is a warehouse . " Only when the driver told Clemens to look up and he saw the light towers did he realize he was in the right place . Fenway Park is one of the two remaining classic parks still in use in major league baseball ( the other being Wrigley Field ) , and both have a significant number of obstructed view seats , due to pillars supporting the upper deck . These are sold as such , and are a reminder of the architectural limitations of older ballparks . As discussed by George Will in " Men at Work " ( MacMillan , 1990 ) , Fenway Park is a " hitters ' ballpark " , with its short right - field fence ( 302 feet ) , narrow foul ground , and generally closer - than - normal outfield fences . By Rule 1 . 04 , Note ( a ) , all parks built after 1958 have been required to have foul lines at least long and a center - field fence at least from home plate . Regarding the narrow foul territory , Will writes ( p . 175 ) : The narrow foul territory in Fenway Park probably adds 5 to 7 points onto batting average s . Since World War II , the Red Sox have had 18 batting champions ( through 1989 ) . . . Five to 7 points are a lot , given that there may be only a 15 - or 20 - point spread between a good hitting team and a poor hitting team . Some observers might feel that these unique aspects of Fenway give the Red Sox an advantage over their opponents , given that the Red Sox hitters play 81 games at the home stadium , while each opponent plays only a handful ( 9 for AL East teams , 6 for some AL teams , and only 3 for other AL teams and the NL teams which play at Fenway for interleague games ) . Will does not share this view ( p . 117 ) . Will ' s book pre - dates the smaller retro ballparks and the home run barrage that began in the early / mid - 1990s , as well as the Red Sox World Series wins of 2004 and 2007 . Historically , Fenway Park has been decidedly unfriendly to left - handed pitchers , Babe Ruth being one of the few southpaw exceptions . Ruth started his career as a pitcher ( mostly during the " dead - ball era " ) , and had a career record of 94 wins , 46 losses ( . 671 winning percentage ) . Ruth also set a World Series record by pitching 29⅔ scoreless innings , a record that lasted until broken by Whitey Ford of the New York Yankees in 1961 . Fenway Park had the smallest seating capacity in the major leagues for a number of years , but that is no longer the case . A number of the classic ballparks had seating capacities under 40 , 000 , and some were smaller than Fenway . Montreal ' s Jarry Park was smallest of all the modern ballparks , at about 28 , 000 . At the time of Jarry Park ' s closing in 1977 , the other old ballparks were gone , and Fenway ' s capacity was listed ( according to " Sporting News Baseball Guides " ) at 33 , 513 , making it the smallest in the majors at that point . Fenway began to grow incrementally over the next three decades , as pockets of seating areas were added from time to time . Before the 2008 season , Fenway Park ' s capacity was increased to 39 , 928 , where it remains following additional renovations for the 2009 season rendering Fenway as the fourth smallest , behind the Oakland - Alameda County Coliseum , Tropicana Field and PNC Park . Renovations prior to the 2009 season now allow the Sox to sell roughly 350 more tickets each game , though the official capacity has not increased . There have previously been proposals to increase the seating capacity to as much as 45 , 000 through the expansion of the upper decks , while others ( notably former team owners , the JRY Trust ) have called for razing the historic ballpark entirely and building a similar , but larger and more modern , scalable facility nearby . These proposals are now effectively moot as a result of the alternative modernization plan undertaken by the current ownership . The Green Monster . The Green Monster is the nickname of the thirty - seven - foot , two - inch ( 11 . 3 m ) left field wall in the park . Only 310 – 315 feet to home plate , it is a popular target for right - handed hitters . Part of the original ballpark construction of 1912 , the wall is made of wood , but was covered in tin and concrete in 1934 when the scoreboard was added . The wall was covered in hard plastic in 1976 . The scoreboard is still manually updated throughout the game today . Despite the name , the Green Monster was not painted green until 1947 ; before that it was covered with ads . The " Monster " designation is relatively new . For most of its history it was simply called the wall . In recent years , terrace - style seating has been added on top of the wall . " The Triangle " . " The Triangle " is a region of center field where the walls form a triangle whose far corner is 420 feet ( 128 m ) from home plate . That deep right - center point is conventionally given as the center field distance . True center is unmarked , from home plate , to the left of " The Triangle " when viewed from home plate . There was once a smaller " triangle " at the left end of the bleachers in center field , posted as 388 feet ( 118 . 3 m ) . The end of the bleachers form a right angle with the Green Monster and the flagpole stands within that little triangle . That is not the true power alley , but deep left - center . The true power alley distance is not posted . The foul line intersects with the Green Monster at nearly a right angle , so the power alley could be estimated at 336 feet ( 102 . 4 m ) , assuming the power alley is 22 . 5 degrees away from the foul line as measured from home plate . " Williamsburg " . " Williamsburg " was the name , invented by sportswriters , for the bullpen area built in front of the right - center field bleachers in 1940 . It was built there primarily for the benefit of Ted Williams , to enable him and other left - handed batters to hit more home run s , since it was closer than the bleacher wall . Ironically fewer than three dozen of Williams ' home runs would end up falling into the bullpen area . " The Belly " is the sweeping curve of the box - seat railing from the right end of " Williamsburg " around to the right field corner . The box seats were added when the bullpens were built in 1940 . The right field line distance from the 1934 remodeling was reduced by some . The Lone Red Seat . The lone red seat in the right field bleachers ( Section 42 , Row 37 , Seat 21 ) signifies the longest home run ever hit at Fenway . The Ted Williams hit on June 9 , 1946 was officially measured at 502 feet ( 153 m ) — well beyond " Williamsburg " . According to Hit Tracker Online , the ball , if unobstructed , would have flown 520 to 535 feet . The ball landed on Joseph A . Boucher , penetrating his large straw hat and hitting him in the head . A confounded Boucher was later quoted as saying , No other player at Fenway Park has ever hit the seat since , although on June 23 , 2001 Manny Ramírez hit two home runs ; one estimated at and another one with an official estimate of . The latter blast struck a light tower above the Green Monster denying it a true landing point , to which the official estimate deferred to Williams ' record placing Ramirez ' s home run exactly one foot short . As noted in the 2007 book " The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs , " researcher Bill Jenkinson found evidence that on May 25 , 1926 , Babe Ruth hit one in the pre - 1934 bleacher configuration which landed five rows from the top in right field , an estimated from home plate . Ruth also hit several other " Ruthian " blasts at Fenway that landed across the street behind straightaway center field , estimated at . Foul poles . Pesky ' s Pole is the name for the pole on the right field foul line , which stands a mere from home plate , the shortest porch ( left or right field ) in Major League Baseball . Oddly , this distance has never been posted on the foul pole . Despite the short wall , home runs in this area are relatively rare , since the fence curves away from the foul pole sharply . For comparison ' s sake , the much larger " Old " Comiskey Park in Chicago had several dozen home runs hit over its roof , yet no one has ever hit one over Fenway ' s much shorter right field roof . The pole was named after Johnny Pesky , a light - hitting shortstop and long - time coach for the Red Sox , who hit some of his six home runs at Fenway Park around the pole but never off the pole . Pesky and the Red Sox give credit to pitcher Mel Parnell for coining the name . The most notable for Pesky is a two - run homer in the eighth inning of the 1946 Opening Day game to win the game ( in his career , Pesky hit 17 home runs ) . In similar fashion , Mark Bellhorn hit what proved to be the game - winning home run off of Julián Tavárez , in Game 1 of the 2004 World Series off that pole ' s screen . On September 27 , 2006 , on Pesky ' s 87th birthday , the Red Sox organization officially dedicated the right field foul pole as Pesky ' s Pole with a commemorative plaque placed at its base . In a ceremony before the Red Sox ' s 2005 interleague game against the Cincinnati Reds , the pole on the left field foul line atop the Green Monster was named Fisk Foul Pole , in honor of Carlton Fisk . Fisk provided one of baseball ' s most enduring moments in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series against the Reds . Facing Reds right - hander Pat Darcy in the 12th inning with the score tied at 6 , Fisk hit a long fly ball down the left field line . It appeared to be heading foul , but Fisk , after initially appearing unsure of whether or not to continue running to first base , famously jumped and waved his arms to the right as if to somehow direct the ball fair . It ricocheted off the foul pole , winning the game for the Red Sox and sending the series to a seventh and deciding game the next night , which Cincinnati won . NBC - TV director Harry Coyle had wanted to aim the camera on the ball . But legend has it that a rat in the left field camera booth had frightened the cameraman , causing him to stay focused on Fisk ' s " waving it fair " . This play clinched an Emmy award for Coyle and NBC ' s coverage of the Series . " Duffy ' s Cliff " . From 1912 to 1933 , there was a high incline in front of the then high left field wall at Fenway Park , extending from the left - field foul pole to the center field flag pole . As a result , a left fielder in Fenway Park had to play part of the territory running uphill ( and back down ) . Boston ' s first star left fielder , Duffy Lewis , mastered the skill so well that the area became known as " Duffy ' s Cliff " . The incline served two purposes : It also served as a spectator - friendly seating area during the dead ball era when overflow crowds would sit on the incline behind ropes . It is often compared to the infamous left field " terrace " at Cincinnati ' s Crosley Field , but , in truth , the 15 - degree all - grass incline there served an entirely different purpose as an alternative to an all dirt warning track found in most other ballparks . It was a natural feature of the site on which Crosley Field and its predecessors were located ; slightly less severe inclines were deliberately built in center and right fields to compensate . The incline in center field of Minute Maid Park has been considered a tribute to Duffy ' s Cliff . As part of the 1934 remodeling of the ballpark , the bleachers and the wall itself , Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey arranged to flatten the ground along the base of the wall , so that Duffy ' s Cliff no longer existed , and thus became part of the lore of Fenway Park . Thus the base of the left field wall is several feet below the grade level of Lansdowne Street , accounting for the occasional rat that might spook the scoreboard operators . ( " " The Fenway Project " " , ISBN 1 - 57940 - 091 - 4 . ) For decades there was considerable debate about the true left field distance , which was posted as 315 feet ( 96 m ) . For years , Red Sox officials refused to remeasure the distance . Reportedly , " The Boston Globe " was able to sneak into Fenway Park and remeasure the line . When the paper ' s evidence was presented to the club in 1995 , the line was finally remeasured by the Red Sox and restated at 310 feet ( 94 . 5 m ) . The companion 96 meters sign remained unchanged , until 1998 , when it was corrected to 94 . 5 meters . A theory about the incorrect foul line distance is that the former 315 ft ( 96 m ) measurement came from the Duffy ' s Cliff days . That measurement likely included the severity of the incline , and when the mound was leveled , the distance was never corrected . EMC Club . In 1983 , private suites were added to the roof behind home plate . In 1988 , 610 stadium club seats enclosed in glass and named the " 600 Club " , were added above the home plate bandstand , replacing the existing press box . The press box was then added to the top of the 600 Club . The 1988 addition is largely credited with changing the air currents in Fenway Park to the detriment of hitters . In 2002 , the organization renamed the club seats the " . 406 Club " ( in honor of Ted Williams ' batting average in 1941 ) , six days after his death . ( Williams is the last player to hit . 400 or better to finish a regular season in the major leagues . ) During the 2005 / 06 offseason , as part of the continuing expansion efforts at Fenway Park , the existing . 406 club was rebuilt . The second deck now features two open - air levels : the bottom level is the new " EMC Club " featuring 406 seats and concierge services , and above that , the State Street Pavilion , with 374 seats and a dedicated standing room area . The added seats are wider than the previous seats . Stadium usage . Baseball . The Red Sox ' s one - time cross - town rivals , the Boston Braves used Fenway Park for the 1914 World Series and the 1915 season until Braves Field was completed . Since 1990 ( except in 2005 when , because of field work , it was held in a minor league ballpark ) , Fenway Park has also played host to a baseball version of Boston - area intercollegiate sports ' prestigious Beanpot tournament , Boston College , Harvard University , Northeastern University , and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the four - team tournament . Beginning in 2006 , the Red Sox have hosted the " Futures at Fenway " event , where two of their minor - league affiliates play a regular - season doubleheader as the " home " teams . In 2006 , the Lowell Spinners and Pawtucket Red Sox played , with both winning . The 2007 event featured Lowell and the Portland Sea Dogs as the two featured farm clubs , again with both teams winning . Before the Futures day started , the most recent minor - league game held at Fenway had been the Eastern League All - Star Game in 1977 . The 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament was scheduled to be held at Fenway Park , but a scheduling conflict has caused the 2010 tournament to be scheduled at Fenway Park instead . Due to economic reasons , the ACC elected to move the 2010 tournament from Fenway Park to NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro , NC , but is still looking to host a tournament at Fenway Park in the future . Fenway Park has also hosted the Cape Cod Baseball League All Star Game since 2009 . Soccer . Since its construction , Fenway Park has hosted 19 soccer matches . The first game was played on May 30 , 1931 ; 8 , 000 fans were on hand to see the of the American Soccer League beat Celtic 4 – 3 . The Yankees goalkeeper , Johnny Reder , would later return to play for the Boston Red Sox . During 1968 , the park was home to the Boston Beacons of the now - defunct . The latest soccer event was held in July 2010 , when Fenway hosted an exhibition game between European soccer clubs Celtic F . C . and Sporting C . P . called Football at Fenway . A crowd of 32 , 162 watched the two teams play to a 1 - 1 tie . Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner stated in early 2011 that he intends to bring the Liverpool F . C . , an English professional soccer club owned by Fenway Sports Group , to play in Fenway sometime in 2012 . Football . In 1926 , the first American Football League ' s Boston Bulldogs played at both Fenway and Braves Field ; the Boston Shamrocks of the second AFL did the same in 1936 and 1937 . The National Football League ' s Boston Redskins played at Fenway for four seasons , 1933 to 1936 , after playing their inaugural season in 1932 at Braves Field as the Boston Braves . The Boston Yanks played there in the 1940s ; and the American Football League ' s Boston Patriots called Fenway Park home from 1963 to 1968 after moving there from Nickerson Field . At various times in the past , Dartmouth College , Boston College and Boston University teams have also played football games at Fenway Park . Hockey . The third annual NHL Winter Classic was held at Fenway on New Year ' s Day 2010 . The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2 - 1 in overtime , securing the first home - team victory in the relatively short history of the event . The Winter Classic paved the way for the Frozen Fenway series of ice skating and hockey events at the ball park . Frozen Fenway is an annual series of collegiate games featuring hockey teams from local and regional colleges and universities , including the University of Massachusetts Amherst , University of New Hampshire , University of Maine , University of Vermont , Northeastern University , Boston College and Boston University , is held during the first part of the event . After the completion of the hockey series , the rink is opened to the public for free ice skating . Public address announcers . Fenway Park has had four public address announcers in the over forty years dating back to the Impossible Dream season of 1967 , with veteran composer and radio announcer Sherm Feller serving for 26 of those years . The most recent announcer , Carl Beane , began his career in radio in 1972 and has handled duties at Fenway since 2003 . Retired numbers . There are eight retired numbers above the right field grandstand . All of the numbers retired by the Red Sox are red on a white circle . Jackie Robinson ' s 42 , which was retired by Major League Baseball , is blue on a white circle . The two are further delineated through the font difference ; Boston numbers are in the same style as the Red Sox jerseys , while Robinson ' s number is in the more traditional " block " numbering found on the Dodgers jerseys . Until the late 1990s , the numbers originally hung on the right - field facade in the order in which they were retired : 9 - 4 - 1 - 8 . It was pointed out that the numbers , when read as a date ( 9 / 4 / 18 ) , marked the eve of the first game of the 1918 World Series , the last championship series that the Red Sox won before 2004 . After the facade was repainted , the numbers were rearranged in numerical order . The Red Sox policy on retiring uniform numbers was once one of the most stringent in baseball — the player had to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame , play at least 10 years with the team , and retire as a member of the Red Sox . The final requirement was waived for Carlton Fisk as he had finished his playing career with the Chicago White Sox . However , Fisk was assigned a Red Sox front office job and effectively " finished " his baseball career with the Red Sox in this manner . In 2008 , the current ownership relaxed the requirements further with the retirement of Johnny Pesky ' s number 6 . Pesky has not been inducted into the Hall of Fame , but in light of his over fifty years of service to the club , the management made an exception . Pesky would have had 10 seasons but he had given 3 seasons as an Operations Officer in the U . S . Navy during WWII . The latest number retired was 14 , worn by Jim Rice . Rice met the original requirements , retiring after playing sixteen seasons with the Red Sox and entering the Hall of Fame in 2009 . Popular culture . Fenway Park and the Red Sox have been referenced in various songs by Dropkick Murphys and Jonathan Richman . The stadium has been featured in a number of films , most notably in the 2010 crime film " The Town " , directed by and starring Ben Affleck . In the film ' s climax , the main characters enter Fenway Park ' s cash room disguised as Boston police officers and trick the guards and counting room staff in order to steal upwards of $ 3 million . Other notable movies filmed at Fenway Park include 1989 ' s " Field of Dreams " , an Academy Award nominated baseball homage that featured Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones watching a Red Sox game , and 2005 ' s " Fever Pitch " , with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore . The ending of the latter film had to be rewritten during the 2004 production when the Red Sox went on to win their first World Series title in 86 years .