Fenway Park and The Golden Age of The Baseball Park, 1909-1915 - Robert F. Bluthardt
Fenway Park and The Golden Age of The Baseball Park, 1909-1915 - Robert F. Bluthardt
1909-1915
Robert F. Bluthardt
43
44 Journal of Popular Culture
The game was growing u p , and patrons were n o longer willing to p u t u p with
nineteenth century conditions. Besides, the park was located in a poor neighborhood,
arid many of the better class of c-itizens, espec-ially when accompanied by their womenfolk,
were loath t o go
However ideal the location, the land had to be available, and some
parks arose from questionable real estate deals. Charlie Ebbets had picked
his site, but the land was subdivided among dozens of owners who would
have sold it at double the property value had they known his intentions.
Ebbets quietly formed the comically named Pylon Construction
Company, placed a friend as its president, and patiently waited three
years to acquire the necessary parcels. T h e Fenway Realty Company
owned Fenway Parks future home, and John I. Taylor, president of
the Red Sox, had a controlling interest in the ~ o m p a n y . ~
Sometimes club owners had to compromise. In Detroit, residents
near the wooden stands that would become Navin Field refused to sell
their property. They like the crowds and excitement, and one property
owner stated that he wanted to die near the ballpark. Griffith Stadiums
center field wall respectfully skirted the houses of several holdouts. Fenway
Park also had a n irregular plot that looked as if it were cut from a
jigsaw puzzle with seventeen different walls, facets, and barriers that
hugged the contours of the site.IO
T h e new parks boasted steel and concrete construction, thus
eliminating the major concern o f fire. In 1894 alone, ten wooden parks
burned. T h e new stands in Washington, New York, and St. Louis rose
from the ashes of wooden grandstands. Fire remained on everyones minds.
A t Comiskey Parks first game, a small fire occurred near a box seat.
T h a t incident would have sent a shudder of fear through the crowd
at the old park, but steel and concrete are a different matter.
T h e new parks did not completely replace wooden construction.
Shibe Park had wooden stands o n top of a steel grandstand. All the
parks had wooden bleachers or large sections of wooden construction.
Fenway had more wood than the ideal stadium. Its main grandstand
was concrete and steel, but the first and third base pavilions had iron
skeletons with wooden construction, and the bleachers were primarily
wood. Fenway was not immune to fire; the left field stands burned in
1926 and were not replaced.
Fenways single deck construction distinguished it from its peers.
With the exception of Braves Field, another Boston park, all new ballparks
of this era had two or three decks. T w o reasons explain this. First, Fenway
was built o n filled land, and a double-decked stadium probably could
not have been built without massive and expensive piles: secondly,
although the concept of a double deck was not new to Boston, local
fans did not consider it ideal. T h e South End Grounds, home of Bostons
National League team from 1876 to 1915, had a double deck until its
destruction by fire in 1894. T h e Sporting News observed that Boston
never took kindly to the double decked stand idea. Fans preferred a
46 Journal of Popular Culture
ground floor view that would enable them to better follow the action
on the field.lZ
In general appearance, the new parks strove for an impressive, massive
look. Comiskey Park copied the Colosseum in Rome, and it was decorated
like a Roman temple. Cincinattis park emulated the classical arena.
Shibe Park in Philadelphia presented a massive, three story front with
Ionic pilasters flanking recessed arches that were one story high o n both
sides of the building. Fenways exterior, in contrast to its contemporaries,
had a modest facade of traditional red brick.
Fenway did have some decorative motifs that allude to its function.
T h e brickwork and concrete form a series of diamonds and baseball bats
that ring the grandstand facade. Less subtly, a n iron fence of balls and
bats surrounded Comiskey Park. Patrons who entered the main foyer
of Ebbets Field could see a massive chandelier whose arms were shaped
like bats and whose bulbs were fashioned after baseballs.
Fenways interior was plain and simple. It never boasted a marble
entrance as did Ebbets Field. Some objected to the trend to decorate parks
excessively. T h e Detroit News praised the new Navin Field as the best
arranged for baseball while criticizing parks like New Yorks Polo
Grounds where money was spent on Cupids and flubdubs. . .that may
make them more pleasing to the artistic eye.l3 Then, as now, some
fans wanted the game without the frills.
T h e classic image of a baseball park has the interior covered with
advertising. While Fenway subscribed to this trend, many parks did not.
Pittsburgh and Washington initially did not permit ads on their fences,
preferring to keep the walls painted green, thus providing hitters a better
background for seeing the ball. Cincinnatis new park banned all ads,
saying that they did not bring in enough revenue for spoiling the artistic
appearance of the yard. Cincinnati criticized parks where fence
advertising was profitable. It contrasted its pristine park to the Polo
Grounds where every chance to grab a few dollars is gladly taken.I4
Fans probably cared more for the view of the field than the appearance
of the park. A major study of baseball stadiums in 1930 gave three criteria
for a proper vantage point: a well-elevated viewpoint, lack of obstructions,
and nearness to the play. Fenway and other parks sloped their grandstands
to provide all fans with a good view. Like Shibe Park and others, Fenway
banked the outfield surface u p to the restraining wall to provide a decent
sightline for the temporary seats and standees allowed on to the field.
In Boston, this slope became known as Duffys Cliff, named after the
great Red Sox outfielder, Duffy Lewis, who mastered the art of scampering
u p and down the incline to field f l y balls. Fenway eliminated the slope
and practice of permitting fans on the field after the parks reconstruction
in 1934.l5
Golden Age of the Baseball Park, 1909-1915 47
decks. Fenway built neither stairs nor elevators, but its ramps then and
now quickly move the fans into and out of the grandstand.20
To insure greater crowd control, League Park in Cleveland printed
the turnstile entry number on the ticket. Comiskey Park used color-coded
tickets. All the new parks published meticulous sets of instructions telling
fans how to buy tickets at the park and enter the stadium properly.
If you follow these directions, claimed the Cleveland Plain Dealer,
there will no occasion for confusion.Z1
T h e ability to handle the crowds impressed, and, in some cases,
surprised worried park officials: Even at the last minute the usual
experience of being crushed at the gate was lacking. Crowds melted
in short order assisted by well planned facilities. Fenway Park met its
pre-game boast that access to the park (would) be ridiculously easy
when the Boston Post declared that the struggles to get in the Red
Sox park are a thing of the past.22
Once again, efficiency had its price-a loss of atmosphere. T . H .
Murnane, the Boston correspondent for the Sporting News, thought that
Fenway had changed the interaction of the fans. T h e separate entrances
of the larger ballpark divided the fans into groups while destroying much
of the former sociability. At the old Huntington Avenue Grounds, all
ticket holders passed through the same runway to be distributed like
a lot of mail to various sections. At Fenway, the bleacher, grandstand,
and pavilion fans entered and left the park by their own separate entrances.
T h e new line of stadiums and their seating layouts divided the larger
crowds by distance, ticket price, and entry points.23
Whatever the fan lost in atmosphere, he or she gained in convenience
and comfort. Charlie Ebbets set the standard with Ebbets Field: he wanted
a home for the fans that provided the utmost in safety and comfort.
Of course, comfort could be good business too. T h e Sporting News
observed how the improved facilities of the new parks were attracting
thousands of new fans.24
Players benefitted from the increased attention to park facilities.
Cincinnatis new stadium had reading and billiard rooms for the home
team. Detroits players enjoyed the comforts and luxuries known only
to modern architects. And in Philadelphia, hoth the visiting and home
teams could use a special runway leading from the field to the lockers;
now the players would not be forced to mingle with the crowds.25
All the new ballparks greatly improved the facilities for the visiting
teams. Gone was the traditional trip by the visiting team in uniform
to the park; that journey had often turned into a parade with out-of-
town supporters in tow. That circus-like spirit and spontaneity
disappeared as the players entered and left the ballpark in civilian dress.
Golden Age of the Baseball Park, 1909-1915 49
Notes