What I learned at Harvard, pt. 2: Tour of Fenway

Don't look now, but the Braves are leading the NL East, with the Nationals 13 games out at the time of this posting. Can they hold the lead? Poor Chipper Jones quit Twitter a couple of weeks ago-what a fine last season this might have been for him!

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Let me start with a P.S. of sorts to my last post. There were a lot of talented writers at the Harvard Journalism Academy; the vast majority were from the greater Boston area. One other writer was not, however, and wrote three articles, one on the front page of our print product. I've added her blog to my blogroll. Give it a look sometime!

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While at Cambridge, I had the chance to visit the park of another first-place Eastern Division team: Fenway Park of the Red Sox. Previously, the closest I had gotten to Fenway was those little bags of outfield dirt they send in their team fan packs. And that dirt's of dubious authenticity too. So what better way to spend a Saturday morning than trying to catch a glimpse of the actual park? Not to mention I hadn't been to an MLB stadium before then....

Rather than taking shots of the stadium facade, I contented myself during the wait for the tour to start by photographing the t-shirt jerseys for sale. At the time I was in town, Peavy was the new pick-up. He'll be starting for the fourth time as a Red Sock tonight, with a 1-1, 5.00 line since the trade.

 I eyed these for a second. But $10 for 17 cards? Meh.

This was amusing. A wall of green monsters!

Most baseball followers have probably seen the Boston bombing memorial jersey on the road with the Sox this season. It's twin is the first display you see walking down into the stadium. As the tour guide we had said, though, it's the kind of memorial you never wanted to see. I thought it was great to see the Red Sox find what I consider a classy way to pay tribute to the lives lost in April.

This was what I saw after walking through the tunnel into the seating section. The field, as you can see, was being prepared for a Justin Timberlake concert later that evening. (Okay, you probably can't tell it was Justin Timberlake specifically...you know what I mean.)

The decades-old grandstand seats were pretty cool, and seemed to be in pretty good condition notwithstanding. That said, the view was a bit worse off than in the other seats.

Okay, the view wasn't that bad.

The next stop? Top of the left-field wall.

The view from there...

And the Green Monster seats! It was a fantastic section, but a bit sour to learn that waiting lists and prices for these are ridiculous.

This was in the Red Sox mini-hall of fame. I overheard more than one person ask if this was the real one, as we walked by plaques of Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and company.

And the press box! This was the assigned seating chart. I found it interesting that the Japanese media in particular had several assigned reporters, but I guess it takes a team to cover the life and career of Koji Uehara. If I were a Japanese sportswriter, I know I'd enjoy hanging out at Fenway, though.

Random chairs above the left field-level seats (?). I thought the little ladder was a nice touch.

Speaking of which, here's a shot of the only MLB ladder in fair territory. If a ball hits it, it's still in play.

And a final photo of the field, as seen from the press box.

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All in all, it was a great trip-I enjoyed Cambridge/Boston, and I know I'll jump at the next chance I get to come back!