Fenway - wandering allowed? (buy, live, costs)

[goat1of2]

Well, I haven't been to Fenway since I was 17, and I won't tell you how many years ago that was! My question: are you allowed to wander the park during games or are you restricted to the section you paid for? What would be the best section for a person like me who likes to walk about during the game (still with a view of the field).

Related question: At our triple A ballpark you can, of course, wander anywhere. Heck, after about the third inning, you can even squat in the very best empty seats and no one bothers you. I doubt that's the case at Fenway, right?

[Redsox1972]

Originally Posted by goat1of2

Well, I haven't been to Fenway since I was 17, and I won't tell you how many years ago that was! My question: are you allowed to wander the park during games or are you restricted to the section you paid for? What would be the best section for a person like me who likes to walk about during the game (still with a view of the field).

Related question: At our triple A ballpark you can, of course, wander anywhere. Heck, after about the third inning, you can even squat in the very best empty seats and no one bothers you. I doubt that's the case at Fenway, right?

Walking around while still maintaining a view of the game is difficult to do at Fenway Park. Frankly, for the cost of tickets (and the stoopid transaction fees the Sox put on each ticket sale), I don't know why one would want to walk around.

Prior to October, 2004, I used to give myself great seat upgrades all of the time. Post 2004 World Series, things have changed. The Ushers will give you the boot if they think you've given yourself the upgrade. Also, most people show up to the games, so, there are not a plethora of empty seats to choose from. I would say that it isn't until around the 8th inning or so that you can find some upgraded seats and not have the true seat holders come back.

I can't think of a section that is good for "walking about" during a game. If you keep doing it, particulary in the same area, people will complain. Even those with seats at Fenway sometimes have a crappy view (like the section that faces away from the infield), so, those seat holders are usually in no mood to have people wandering to and fro in front of them.

[goyguy]

Last Tuesday I took a neighbor, who I owed a favor, to the Sox-Indians game. I'd scored excellent tix for grandstand seats on the left-field side. (Now he owes me. )The game was rain-delayed until almost 9 PM, which meant that despite its being a tight contest a lot of people were leaving by no later than the fifth inning. Suddenly some couple, both human blimps, plopped themselves in our row after the rightful ticketholders had taken off. I wasn't about to squander much of my enjoyment of the game and evening on the likes of them. But I made several loud and pointed, if indirect, remarks about scammers worming their way into a better place than what they'd paid gave them the right to have. I get touchy about stuff like this because I live from check to check and WORKED for my tickets. Had that pair been easy on the eyes my reaction would've been no different.

Every time I go to a Red Sox game I see the same thing going on. The later the inning, the more the cheaper seats empty out as their occupants drift away to see what they can grab in the grandstand or from a better angle. It makes no sense to me. At Friendly Fenway there's really no bad place to be stuck in, and wherever I end up having to park my azz is where I stay. Strict ushers? Yeah, right!

[brent s]

You can buy standing room tickets in various sections of the park. I do this often, and most of the time I can grab an unused season ticket holder seat by the second inning or so. As long as you aren't trying to get into "premium" areas, the ushers do not give you any type of problem.

[Redsox1972]

Originally Posted by goyguy

Last Tuesday I took a neighbor, who I owed a favor, to the Sox-Indians game. I'd scored excellent tix for grandstand seats on the left-field side. (Now he owes me. )The game was rain-delayed until almost 9 PM, which meant that despite its being a tight contest a lot of people were leaving by no later than the fifth inning. Suddenly some couple, both human blimps, plopped themselves in our row after the rightful ticketholders had taken off. I wasn't about to squander much of my enjoyment of the game and evening on the likes of them. But I made several loud and pointed, if indirect, remarks about scammers worming their way into a better place than what they'd paid gave them the right to have. I get touchy about stuff like this because I live from check to check and WORKED for my tickets. Had that pair been easy on the eyes my reaction would've been no different.

Every time I go to a Red Sox game I see the same thing going on. The later the inning, the more the cheaper seats empty out as their occupants drift away to see what they can grab in the grandstand or from a better angle. It makes no sense to me. At Friendly Fenway there's really no bad place to be stuck in, and wherever I end up having to park my azz is where I stay. Strict ushers? Yeah, right!

No, the ushers are not going to catch every single person that gives themselves an upgrade. The example you cite was during a rain delayed game, which is a bit different. I was trying to convey to the OP that it isn't easy to give yourself a good upgrade at most games. I have been to a lot of games in the last 9 years and even with the rain delays a vast majority of folks get to and stick around for the game. Of course there are exceptions.

The OP should know that upgrades at Fenway can be hard to score (the seating availability isn't totally wide open as it used to be), and nothing to bet the farm on, and, that Fenway doesn't have a section to really wander to and hangout and still get a good view of the game. There are already too many people walking back and forth in too little of a space. You can spend half your time just trying to get through the foot traffic. I personally don't understand wandering about during a game. It costs enough to be there. What's the point in missing a bunch of the game by walking around? It's congested.

Nowadays I score better seats by making nice with the people with better seats in my own section, for example. Sometimes they will tell me if they are leaving for good so I can grab their seats. Perhaps if the OP, coming from from NC, makes it to a game, he/she can do the same thing.

I hope the OP makes it to a game soon and enjoys the upgrades to the old ball park since his/her last visit. There are new concourses, more bathrooms, more seats, monster seats, another scoreboard, a bigger, HD scoreboard, and waaay, waaaaay higher prices.

[goat1of2]

Thanks guys for all the insider info! That's exactly what I needed. Our Durham Bulls park is designed to allow folks to walk about without being in the way (the main "drag", if you will, keeps the walkers' heads *below* the feet of those seated....nice, huh?). I couldn't remember if Fenway had a spot like that. Apparently not. So, wandering is out. And my eyesight is too poor to be up in the SRO sections.

Sounds like I'll be shelling out the big bucks for good seats in order to insure a decent one. For a once-more-in-a-lifetime event, I don't mind.