Fenway should be burned to the ground. The owners are money grubbing losers. Real Sox fans, not the clueless Sweet Caroline singing idiot Pink Hats deserve a real baseball stadium, not some dumpy piece of crap shoebox.

Old Fenway ain't what it used to be, but what is. I guess in order to have a possibility of winning you have to charge all out doors for the experience and offer all these non-baseball accoutrements for the people who can afford to go. The last time I was there about 5 years ago I paid I think about $140 for two obstructed view seats and then proceeded to watch 9 innings of people constantly getting up and down in front of me. Even when the game was actually being played and not just between innings. What a waste of time. Unfortunately it isn't a baseball team anymore but a huge money making entertainment conglomerate that has to offer all this additional experiences for the fan they are after. Oh well...I guess I will stick to the minor leagues where the baseball appears to still be the product, and somewhat affordable.

I'm of the same era as you, and miss the same things. But the clock simply won't run backwards. No owners are perfect. The Yawkeys had many well documented flaws. Buddy and Haywood and the BC mafia were worse. The current crew better, but still... time marches on. No going back to pristine outfield walls, Narragansett, Altlantic Premium and Curt Gowdy (or Dirt Cloudy as Jess Cain called him). This call to the Bullpen has been brought to us by the March of Times.

No doubt, if they could, Sox ownership would put ads on the players uniforms and on the bases.

Oh boo hoo. Would the author really go to see a 1950s second-division team consistently? I don't think so. When I go to Fenway, I see the same marks in the concrete under the grandstand that Babe Ruth might have seen. I look out onto the same field, more or less, that Smokey Joe Wood pitched on and that Cy Young pitched on and that Ty Cobb scowled up at the opposing fans from. Without all the improvements, upgrades, and yes, advertisements (Though has the author seen pictures of the ad-festooned Fenway circa 1920? There is less writing on the outfield wall today.) the present ownership has jammed into the existing footprint, then there would be no Fenway Park. The Red Sox would be playing in a sterile modern, symmetrial field somewhere in Foxborough or East Boston or Southie. And the author would be writing lamentations about why the greedy bastards couldn't have found a way to save the Fenway Park of her childhood memories.

I mostly agree with the writer. Fenway is my church. I used to go 10+ times a year growing up, but now I don't have to. I can see 162 games in HD, with no commercials (thank you DVR), and a cold bottle of good beer. When my kids were smaller (~1999-2007) I tried to get at least one game a year with all three and it was mad expensive. The market is your friend now.... Everything equilibrates. I will be able to buy some sucker's tickets at 25% face value, so this year my oldest boy and I are planning to see Fenway for the first time in years. And Larry Lucchino will weep tears that nourish my heart.

After growing up thinking the Astrodome was a ballpark, moving to Boston and Fenway in the 80s was a major improvement. It's changed, but still a fine place to watch a baseball game. The first time walking out and seeing the grass and red dirt is a thrill every year, unabated. Real grass too. I think Fenway remains the best place to experience a baseball game, high cost included. Try the view from cheap seats in Toronto. Bring a telescope. Every seat not behind a pole in Fenway has a great. And the fans, smartphones and all, are still much more engaged than most other parks I've visited. I do miss: 1. Walking up to the ticket booth and buying bleacher tickets for $5 at game time ... and then sneaking past the guard at the gate between the bleacher concourse and the rest of the stadium for a super seat upgrade. Behind home plate for $5, priceless! 2. George the peanut man. Peanuts for a buck. 3. More real organ music 4. Currently, pitching. Things I like better: 1. Better beer. If you must pay too much, at least have Guinness. 2. The views from the new roof seats, and seating in general. A lot of wasted space is now decent seats or standing room. 3. TVs everywhere in the concourse. While stuck in line, why not watch.

Wow, a couple realists and a bunch of naysayers. I'm happy with my four game tickets package, $26 bleacher seats which my friends and my kids seem to think are good on a sunny Sunday afternoon. If you can't afford to eat at a restaurant then don't think you can eat or drink at Fenway, but what does anyone expect. You want it cheaper than a current new movie or concert?? Jeesh it's more than a movie but cheaper than a concert. So go write a story about how cheap it used to be to go or take your family to movies in the 'old' days.

Norine, you're just a crank who sees the dark cloud in every silver lining, finds the glass half empty and looks backwards rather than forward. First of all, there could be NO Fenway but thank heaven, it was saved. We could have a modern huge new ballpark with more seats that would never have the history, charm and character of Fenway Park but I'm willing to bet you'd find something to grouse about there, too.

bob, I remember the Dome, too, back when the Astros wore The. Ugliest. Uniforms. EVER. The Dome was great for the rodeo but it was a HORRIBLE place to watch baseball! MinuteMaid Park is nice, though!

Why don't you buy the team, then?

A Fenway without obstructed view seats, a right field grandstand without seats facing the wrong way? It would attract even more fans. Baseball is still a business, and making the park attractive to come to is part of that business. With the success of the team, there are the inevitable "pink hats" of both genders that have jumped on the bandwagon, but they help pay the bills. The additional seats added to the park. Dumping the glassed-in club above the screen? A good thing. I do ask if the writer has attended baseball at other parks with good sight lines, easier access, and that still retains a "cozy" feeling. After attending a game a Camden Yards in the 90's, I jumped off the Save Fenway bandwagon. You can do it right. Just not in the existing Fenway without major work not possible in the Red Sox off-season in winter.

Congrats on your bleacher seats. I can't follow the game from that far away because the field looks like a postage stamp. Once in the bleachers is enough. Never again.

Well, as Yogi Bera is reported to have said, "That place is too crowded. No one goes there anymore."