Feeding (on top of) the Monster
A new tour focuses on one of Boston's most sacred spots — Fenway Franks included
Fenway Park is many things - old, cramped, historic, gorgeous - but most of all, it's unique. Sitting in the grandstands on a summer evening, the average fan is probably vaguely aware of the idiosyncrasies that give the ballpark its character. But if you want to get the full flavor of the oldest park in the majors, there are few better ways to do it than taking Old Town Trolley's new Lunch on the Monster tour. The tour is designed to give fans an insider's look at the nooks and crannies of the stadium, including spots that are typically open to only a privileged few.
On a gloriously sunny late-spring day, we join a crowd of about 15 baseball lovers on Yawkey Way and follow tour guide John Lara to a row of seats in the lower grandstands behind the first-base dugout. The group squeezes into the 15-inch-wide wooden seats as Lara explains that they are sitting in the oldest seats in Major League Baseball, installed in 1934. The ancient seats, claustrophobic concourses, and giant edifice looming in left field are what make Fenway Fenway, Lara says.
"We're not Yankee Stadium," Lara says. "We don't just tear it down and start over."
The group, which is split between Red Sox fans and out-of-towners claiming allegiance to the Yankees, Mets, Orioles, and other clubs, laughs as Lara explains that the Green Monster started life as little more than a giant wooden billboard covered in black-and-white ads. When Tom Yawkey bought the team, he asked his wife to pick out a good paint color for the wall; she returned with the famous shade of green that now covers half the surfaces at Fenway and is available only to the Red Sox.
The group gratefully clears out of the small seats and heads up one level to the exclusive State Street Pavilion section, which boasts padded seats and sweeping views of the entire park. "It's good that they [the team] stayed at Fenway," says Paul Roberts of Belmont, a lifelong Sox fan. "There's no place else like it, and you can't just rebuild that history and nostalgia somewhere else."
Lara leads the group down a series of interior hallways toward the Green Monster seats, and along the way people stop to ogle a piece of the left-field foul pole that Carlton Fisk famously hit with a home run during the 1975 World Series, as well as the plaques honoring Red Sox greats such as Cy Young, Wade Boggs, and Joe Cronin. The group emerges from the dark hallway into the sun, and suddenly they're at the top of the Green Monster.
"This is unreal. I can't believe the view from up here," says Robert Bohrod, from Westfield, N.J. "I've never seen a game here, but this is the next best thing. You don't get this history anywhere else."
The group files quickly through the lunch line, grabbing Fenway Franks, chips, and fruit, and hurries to find seats, which were added to the Green Monster before the 2003 season. It's suddenly clear why fans cheerfully pony up two or even three times the $160 face value for seats here. As people mug for pictures and wander around the Monster, fingering the spots where shots from Manny and A-Rod and countless others have clanged off the seats, Roberts looks out at the park. "I've seen a lot of games here, but I'd never been up here," he says. "I need to find a way to get some tickets for this."
Bohrod, the rarest of baseball fans, who pulls for both the Yankees and the Red Sox, says his first trip to Fenway won't be his last. "I have to come back and see a game now," he says. "What a great place."
Old Town Trolley's Lunch on the Monster tour ($50 per person, includes lunch) departs at 11:30 a.m. on non-game days through September from the Red Sox team store, 19 Yawkey Way. Reserve a spot at 617-269-7010. trolleytours.com/boston
