fenway faithful.

Salty’s walk-off homer and the subsequent celebration

duckieoverblane — Mon, 28 May 2012 04:06:00 +1000

Salty’s walk-off homer and the subsequent celebration

A look at last night’s bench-clearing… discussion

duckieoverblane — Sun, 27 May 2012 10:59:00 +1000

A look at last night’s bench-clearing… discussion

Photo

nevillegonnagiveyouup — Mon, 21 May 2012 07:30:13 +1000

Red Sox fans in the stands and sitting on scaffolding during a...

duckieoverblane — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:58:00 +1000

Red Sox fans in the stands and sitting on scaffolding during a 1975 game against the Tigers.

boston: Tim Wakefield was honored for his long and...

nevillegonnagiveyouup — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:20:26 +1000

boston:

Tim Wakefield was honored for his long and knuckle-ball-filled career. More photos.

trollthewallsdown: RIP

nevillegonnagiveyouup — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:05:40 +1000

trollthewallsdown:

RIP

“Fenway Ghosts” Apr 19 - There are marks all over the Green...

nevillegonnagiveyouup — Fri, 11 May 2012 04:13:09 +1000

“Fenway Ghosts”

Apr 19 - There are marks all over the Green Monster…dings and scratches from balls, feet, and probably elbows. But the ones that really fascinate are impressions such as these…imprints from baseballs left after impacting the famed wall.

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nevillegonnagiveyouup — Wed, 09 May 2012 06:18:19 +1000

Oakland’s Josh Reddick attempts to catch Ortiz’s...

duckieoverblane — Wed, 02 May 2012 08:17:00 +1000

Oakland’s Josh Reddick attempts to catch Ortiz’s second homer of the night but does a pretty good flip into the bullpen instead

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nevillegonnagiveyouup — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:12:43 +1000

Last night Don learned the difference between mittens and gloves

duckieoverblane — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:36:00 +1000

Last night Don learned the difference between mittens and gloves

After loading the bases Alfredo Aceves strikes out Denard...

duckieoverblane — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:49:00 +1000

After loading the bases Alfredo Aceves strikes out Denard Span to save last night’s game against the Twins

Josh Beckett has some choice words for the home plate umpire...

duckieoverblane — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:51:06 +1000

Josh Beckett has some choice words for the home plate umpire after the first inning of last night’s game against the Twins

High fives after Cody Ross’ second home run of the game

duckieoverblane — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:38:00 +1000

High fives after Cody Ross’ second home run of the game

stadium-love-: The MONSTER by Abigal Porter A close-up of the...

nevillegonnagiveyouup — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:09:50 +1000

stadium-love-:

The MONSTER by Abigal Porter

A close-up of the “Green Monster” at Fenway Park.

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nevillegonnagiveyouup — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 07:30:00 +1000

jerkasaurus: BOSTON, MA - APRIL 20: Former Boston Red Sox...

nevillegonnagiveyouup — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 06:20:02 +1000

jerkasaurus:

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 20: Former Boston Red Sox players Pedro Martinez and Kevin Millar lead a toast before the game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox on April 20, 2012 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Today marks the 100 year anniversary of the ball park’s opening. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

mlboffseason: Fenway Park - April 20, 1912 Fenway Park was...

nevillegonnagiveyouup — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 03:48:59 +1000

mlboffseason:

Fenway Park - April 20, 1912

Fenway Park was supposed to open on April 18, 1912, a Thursday. The game was rained out. A doubleheader was scheduled for April 19, Patriots’ Day. Again the weather failed to cooperate. Finally, on Saturday April 20 at 3:00 pm the Boston Red Sox took the field against the New York Highlanders. (They wouldn’t be called the Yankees until the following season, and the heated rivalry was eight years - and an infamous trade - away.)

Anywhere from 24,000 to 27,000 fans were in attendance, enough that overflow was allowed to watch the game behind ropes in the outfield. (Not the outfield seats, the grass itself.) Seats were priced from 25¢ for the bleachers up to $1.50 for box seats. The crowd got its money’s worth.

The Highlanders jumped out to a 3-1 lead after the first inning. By the end of the 3rd it was 5-1. But in the bottom of the fourth, the Red Sox had three men cross the plate to bring the score to within one. Boston tied it up in the sixth, and both teams traded runs in the 8th.

The score was 6-6 after nine. In the bottom of the 11th the Sox scored again earning a 7-6 walk-off win in their brand-new park. (No more details are known because there is no complete box score from the game.)

The Sox starter, Buck O’Brien, would earn the win and finish 20-13 that year. Ray Caldwell earned the loss, one of 16 against only 8 wins.

By October the Sox had run away with the AL pennant, with a final record of 105-47, fourteen games up on the 2nd place Washington Senators. (The Highlanders would finish last, 55 games behind Boston.) In the postseason, the Sox defeated the Giants five games to three (best of 9 back then), clinching it in their shiny new park on October 16, 1912. They would win three Series more by 1918…then a small championship drought you may be familiar with…before winning again in 2004 and 2007.

Favorite random fact: Fenway has been the home park for more football teams (5 - Boston Bulldogs, 1926; Boston Shamrocks, 1936-1937; Boston Redskins, 1933-1936, later moved to Washington; Boston Yanks, 1944-1948, the owner originally hoped to play in Yankee Stadium - awkward; and the Boston Patriots, 1963-1968) than baseball teams (2 - Sox and the Boston Braves for the 1914 World Series and 1915 season).

Sources: retrosheet.org, Boston’s SABR chapter (great stuff on 1912 there), and wikipedia.org

(Image of first ball thrown at Fenway on April 20, 1912 is courtesy of ESPN.com and copyright Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

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nevillegonnagiveyouup — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 03:31:10 +1000

Photo

nevillegonnagiveyouup — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 07:00:58 +1000