THE MAGIC OF FENWAY PARK

Whether you are a Red Sox fan or a Yankee fan, or any fan that enjoys the game of baseball with its rich history, you have to take note of the oldest ballpark in the majors, Fenway.

Base Ball as it was once known in writing it, is filled with great history, drama and legends that keep the game alive. But the ballparks had a great deal to do with it. The old places like Fenway and Wrigley Field are relics, monuments and treasures of the game. If you ever get a chance to go to one of these parks, you will step into history, be at the 1912 World Series in a way, and if you concentrate, you can hear the echo of the roar of the crowds that filled these places so long ago.

This year Fenway celebrates 100 years of existence, the Boston Red Sox having played their first game in 1912 at Fenway, beating the New York Yankees, then the New York Highlanders, 7-6.

I had the pleasure to attend a Yankee/Red Sox game a few years ago, and I remember with clarity the feeling I had of baseball history. As I looked out onto the infield, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that on these very base paths roamed such greats as Williams, DiMaggio and Ruth, that the game was almost the same in 1912 as it is in 2012.

Fenway has a personality that only an old time baseball fan like myself can appreciate, having attended games at Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds and the original Yankee Stadium. The construction of the park, the uniqueness of the playing field, the fences, dugouts and walls all were are equalized by the 90 feet between the bases and the 60 feet 6 inches from the pitcher’s mound to home plate.

Some music and short stories have germinated from the core of the game, the wonderful choreography, the ballet we hear so much about, the beauty that the game is a matter of inches, and that the worst team in baseball can win 42 games and beat every team at least once!

Fenway Park is a teacher, if you listen carefully to the fans that populate it or any ballpark that has a history. The fans remember how to play the game, and if you don’t play well, then the fans will tell you straight out.

But most importantly: Fenway is the reason, the reason why baseball is so popular, the reason why teams were structured like they were to accommodate the ballpark, the reason why baseball and its history is so interesting.

My hope is that when the time comes to leave Fenway, that the city will declare it a city monument, the Federal government will declare it a national historical landmark to be preserved as an example of Americana, and what we were all these years.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Original 1908 Cover
(Click for Larger Version)

1908 Version

Author: Jack Norworth
Composer: Albert Von Tilzer
Published on: 1908, 1927
Published by: York Music Compan

Katie Casey was base ball mad.
Had the fever and had it bad;
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev'ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday, her young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go,
To see a show but Miss Kate said,
"No, I'll tell you what you can do."

"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."

Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names;
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:

"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."

That's all I sang, folks!