The greatest landmark in Boston baseball will have some company from now on, and plenty of people lined up to provide it.
More than 25,000 freezing yet excited Red Sox fans circled the perimeter of Fenway Park on Saturday, all hoping to snatch tickets for the new seats on top of the left field wall, ‘the Green Monster,’ which went on sale at 9 a.m.
The first fans arrived outside of the Fenway Park ticket office as early as 11 a.m. on Friday, and, as part of the ‘first 499,’ were able to enter the ballpark at 8 a.m. to ‘cool off,’ according to John Caron, property manager of Fenway Park.
At 9:04 a.m., one the first groups of fans exited the ticket office, jubilant and relieved. Five determined fans, Jason Bressner, Brett Rudy, Jay Pinsonnault, Tony Hubbard and Dale Yarborough, were able to purchase several tickets to various Red Sox games during the regular season.
‘We got here at 8:30 last night,’ Rudy said, ‘and we’ve been awake since then.’
Pinsonnault was the 34th person in line, as indicated by his numbered bracelet. The bracelets were given out to everyone in line, echoing the procedure the Red Sox used a month ago when regular tickets went on sale.
This time, however, it was all about the Green Monster.
‘These will be the best seats by far in Major League Baseball,’ Pinsonnault said.
One fan in line disagreed.
‘They can’t be the best if you can’t see left field anymore!’
Red Sox fan Tim Duncan, who was number 519 in line, said this year would be the only one fans could choose the seats above the Green Monster.
‘After next year [fans] won’t have the opportunity to sit up there,’ he said. ‘Next year those seats are probably going to go to corporations.’
Still, the majority of Red Sox fans said they loved the idea of Green Monster seats, and Saturday’s unending line proved it.
‘They’ll be the coolest seats in baseball,’ said Cliff Colby, a resident of Gorham, Maine who made the drive to Boston Friday night. After standing in line for three hours in the blistering cold, Colby said, ‘the only way they could make [the Green Monster] better is if there was a hot tub up there.’
Despite the cold, more than 500 fans were lined up at 6 a.m., and Boston Police were called in to maintain order.
Nevertheless, the procedure ran smoothly. Groups of fans were debating about the upcoming season and if the Sox could potentially overcome the hated Yankees.
‘This is the year, we’re going to win the World Series,’ Colby said. He pointed out that money cannot win World Series; it is chemistry that pulls through in October.
That Boston optimism was clearly evident throughout the line.
‘Here’s the mentality of the whole crowd, these Red Sox fans, we don’t care. We’re die-hards,’ Duncan said.
Die-hards may be the right word for the fans, who paid steep prices for multiple seats on top of the Green Monster.
The tickets were $50 each, and fans could only buy two tickets for a Yankees game, while they could buy four for any other game on the regular season home schedule. The maximum amount of tickets a fan could buy was eight.
The seats, still under construction, will be finished and ready for the Red Sox’ second home game, April 29, against the Kansas City Royals.