John Henry Says Fenway Has 30 Years Left in It

FORT MYERS, Fla. — There is an expiration date on Fenway Park, Red Sox principal owner John Henry said on Wednesday. But it won’t come due for another 30 years or so. The oldest ballpark in the majors is structurally sound and the only improvements left to make would be to renovate the press box and other areas in the upper section behind home plate… “Structurally there is an expiration date. Someone at some point in decades ahead will have to address the possibility of a new ballpark.”

We’re all in agreement that this is just awful news, right?  Not the news that Fenway will have to come down at some point, but that it won’t be for another 30 years.  I have to think that the only people who still hold onto this ridiculous notion of Fenway as the Lyric Little Band Box and America’s Most Beloved Ballpark and all that nonsense are the people in cardigan sweaters with elbow patches who read Doris Kearn Goodwin books.  I mean, don’t get me wrong.  Henry and Lucchino, for all their faults have done amazing things with the place.  The idea that anyone used to think it wasn’t an unlivable hellhole back when the Yawkey Trust owned the is laughable when you look at the improvements Dr. Creepy has made (at least the ones he made before he kicked architectural genius Janet Marie Smith down the stairs and replaced her with his gold digging trophy wife).  But they’ve polished that turd all they can.  Babe Ruth and Ted Williams might have stood in that same batters box but that doesn’t mean there aren’t about 20,000 shitty seats in the place.  It’s still the same place where the seats don’t fit modern asses, there are obstructed views everywhere, aisles you can barely squeeze through and if you sit anywhere down the right field line you have to twist yourself like a Mongolian contortionist to face the infield.  They can add all the concourses, concession stands and bad $150 roof seats they want, but none of that will change.  The place is a dump and the sooner they replace it the better.  And it’s bad news “sooner” won’t be until 2044.  @JerryThornton1