Keller @ Large: Fenway Park A Symbol Of Boston
BOSTON (CBS) - Many happy returns of the day to today's celebrated birthday girl, Fenway Park, 100 years old today and never looking better.
Listen to Jon's commentary:
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I'm glad she's still around, and recall with horror the days when it looked like she might be put out to pasture in favor of some wind-swept money machine down by the waterfront.
But before I join everyone else strolling down memory lane about Fenway, I do acknowledge there is some downside to the park's longevity.
Having the second lowest capacity of any major league ballpark and being such a huge tourist draw has helped push the cost of going to a game into the stratosphere, and it's been years since I've been able to justify the expense.
If you see me there, it's because a benevolent friend took mercy on me.
Luckily, my kids are grown and don't hate me for failing to get them in there.
But I do fondly recall the good old days of the $2.50 bleacher ticket and slipping in to catch the end of game for free when they opened the gates in the 7th inning.
My first game was in 1965, and like every other kid I was dazzled by the scene, which back then included many empty seats which remained empty throughout the game.
A non-baseball highlight was seeing Stevie Wonder perform there in 1973; when he hit the climax of "Superstition," they threw the switch on the outfield lights, and the place went nuts.
And I was there on Opening Day in 1975 when Hank Aaron played his first game in the American League and Tony Congiliaro completed his comeback to the majors.
Tony C. was my childhood idol dating back to the Impossible Dream season; his beaning, and the subsequent health problems that cost him a brilliant career and his life at a young age, still stand as one of the saddest sports stories ever.
The sight of Fenway Park evokes a lot of memories for me, as I'm sure it does for most of you.
And living in a city that values history so highly, the park is an enduring symbol of what makes us special.
So Happy Birthday, Fenway – here's to the next hundred.
