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By Ben Badler The first time you go to Fenway Park at a very young age, you feel the magic. The Green Monster looks like it is higher than the tallest building in the world. The whole park is a shade of green that hits a spot in your heart that can’t be described. There is an instant connection between you and the Park. The Green Monster takes over, as you stare at it in amazement, admiring it’s massive size in length and height. You eye the manual scoreboard, which makes you feel like you’re there, in Fenway. However, it is a different experience when you walk in to Fenway for the first time at an older age, say 10 or 12 years old. Perhaps your parents didn’t like baseball, or you just never got around to seeing any games before. You have seen the Green Monster before on television, but it is much more extraordinary in person. The green everywhere is satisfying to the eye, and you feel like you’ve finally achieved something. You understand the history of the park by this age, and you look around and see the numbers hanging from the right field roof. You know that Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, and other Red Sox legends have stepped on to that perfectly cut grass in the outfield, the very one you are looking at right then. Yet, say you weren’t a Red Sox fan, you were in your 20s or 30s, or let’s just say you’re older than a kid. You’ve heard about Fenway Park, and you made a pilgrimage to see what it’s really like. You’ve been to baseball games before, and when you approach Fenway Park, you don’t even recognize it from the outside. It looks like a warehouse from the outside, but when you step inside, you are immediately silenced, as you see a cozy little green ballpark, protected by the big Green Monster. You look around, you see the bleacher creatures, the history of the ballpark. You look over at all the fans in the park, the old school seats, and the poles obstructing people’s views at points. You notice the deep alley in center field, and you can’t help but think how high that Green Monster must really be. After looking around the park, you also can’t help but think how short that right field line must be. It can’t be more than 300 feet, can it be? You feel the tradition of Fenway Park, and you get that feeling of when you were young, watching baseball, and you feel like Fenway is a tribute to how all of baseball used to be. No matter where you come from, or how old you are, when you first go to Fenway Park, you’re main focus is on the Green Monster, aside from the game itself. It’s always in the corner of your eye, and as you leave Fenway Park, you say goodbye to the park which you have just learned to love so much.
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