Fenway Park

Fenway Park in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts has a rich heritage and is the oldest active ballpark in Major League Baseball.

Fun Facts

• Fenway Park was built in 1912 by Red Sox owner John Taylor. The first game was played April 20, 1912, but newspaper coverage of the game was downplayed because of the recent Titanic ship disaster.

  

• The stadium was rebuilt in 1934 and has been renovated several times since. In 1999, owners wanted to demolish it and build a new ballpark. People in Boston were so opposed to this idea that the park was allowed to stay. It has been renovated and is expected to be operational until 2061.

  

• In addition to baseball, the park has hosted concerts, soccer and hockey games, religious and political events, and even football games played by the Boston Redskins, the Boston Yanks, and the New England Patriots.

  

• The ballpark has hosted the World Series 11 times (the Red Sox won six of those times).
• In 2012, Fenway Park was designated a National Register Historic Place.
• Fenway Park is one of the smallest ballparks in MLB.

  

Vocabulary

1. Demolish: destroy
2. Heritage: inherited tradition

Questions and Answers

Question: Does Fenway Park have any unusual features?

Answer: Yes, several, such as the Green Monster, a green wall behind left field which because of its short distance from home plate gives right-handed batters an advantage. The Lone Red Seat is a red seat in the right field bleachers where Ted Williams hit the longest home run in 1946.

Learn More

Read more about the Green Monster.