Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Changes in 2017

The following changes in the ballpark have been noticed in 2017:

— The open front space of the dugouts has been increased, and between and beyond the dugouts the dugout boxes were moved closer to the field.  This represents a reduction of foul territory, the first since the dugout boxes were originally installed in 2002.  Fenway now has the smallest foul territory in the major leagues.  124 new seats were added.  Each row and each area are now priced separately.  The most expensive seats are "Home Plate Dugout Row A1" which are priced at $645.  A pair of season tickets there costs $92,880 this year, but you must commit to three years' worth of tickets.
Foul territory once extended as far back as the front of dugout roof.

— New Day-Of-Game suites were built on the right and left sides, above Pavilion Sections 9 and 10.  The new suites are B1 and B2 (first base side) and K1 and K2 (third base side).  Adjoining suites were renumbered.
Suites B1 and B2 above Pavilion Box 9.

— The Tully Tavern was constructed at the rear of grandstand sections 5, 6, and 7, with bar seats and tables.  There are 85 new seats (67 swivel seats, 8 pairs of seats at 8 tables, and 2 wheelchair spaces).  The new seats are numbered as if they were in grandstand rows 15 and 18.  Several rows of grandstand seats were eliminated.  Among the eliminated seats was Section 5, Row 17, Seat 10, which had been Fenway's worst seat with an unobstructed view of the infield.  Now the worst unobstructed seat is Section 4, Row 17, Seat 26.



— Because the Tully Tavern interfered with the aisle between grandstand sections 4 and 5, the aisle was relocated into Section 4.  This reduced the capacity of Section 4 and created an unusual seating arrangement in Section 5, where ten rows have seats mounted at two different angles.

— The Cumberland Farms sign was replaced by another videoboard.  Cumberland Farms dropped their sponsorship of Fenway Park.

— The front and side walls of the bullpens were replaced with removable walls to create a larger surface area when the park is used for non-baseball events.  The padding panels are numbered for reassembly, and they hang on metal frames.

— The roof area near the corner of Brookline Ave. and Yawkey Way was christened the "Strega Deck" and is available for special events such as receptions and parties.  Its 5600 square feet can hold 200 people.  It is associated with Strega Ristorante of Boston's North End.  Last year this area was available but not named.

— The Pesky Pole was replaced or repaired.
New Pesky Pole in April 2017.
Pesky Pole in May 2016.

— The “E” (error) light on the left field scoreboard was changed from green to red, to restore the historically correct color. ***
— the visiting team names' abbreviations on the Green Monster scoreboard were restored to more historically appropriate abbreviations that are also consistent with spelling out the word BOSTON.  In the opening series, PITTS. appeared instead of PIT. BALT appears instead of BAL.  NEW YORK appears instead of NYY.  CHICAGO appears instead of CHC or CWS. ***
Both the above changes are seen here.

— Two sets of four grandstand seats have been installed on Yawkey Way.  Those seats were possibly removed from sections 5-7 where the Tully Tavern was installed.


— Menus at all concession stands now list calorie counts for food and drinks.


— In some gate locations, physical turnstiles were replaced by freestanding (and portable) optical scanners.


— the “EMC Level” signs were changed to “Dell Technologies Level”.  The EMC Club is now called the Dell EMC Club.


-- the line scores on the fascia videoboards were given a new format and were made to light sequentially at the start of the game, replicating the sequential R, H, and E totals on the Green Monster scoreboard. ***


-- some inaccuracies in song lyrics, which appear on the New Balance videoboard, were corrected. ***

— Of course, some advertisements have been replaced.

*** - changes recommended to management by The Fenway Purist

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