We are now in what baseball experts call "hot stove" time. And this year, the stove is just a little bit warmer as Red Sox Nation basks in the glow of our second World Series title in four years.
As we struggle through winter's snow, ice, and sub-zero temperatures, we can take comfort in the knowledge that Theo, Larry, John Henry and Tom Werner are laying the foundation for another championship in 2008.
That is, when they aren't ringing the cash register.
The Red Sox management has announced that Fenway Park ticket prices will be going up yet again. The increases aren't huge, but they are yet another example of a disturbing trend in professional sports that has seen successful teams effectively price out fans of more modest means—who, more often than not, are the most passionate fans there are.
This is not an attempt to demonize current Red Sox management. We wanted a winner and they delivered, while at the same time spending a lot of money to expand Fenway's seating capacity, and make it more "fan-friendly." It's just too bad none of us are going to see it, with the possible exception of those who make $100,000 a year or more. Because the way things are going, those are the only people who are going to be able to afford the privilege of enjoying one of the truly unique experiences in professional sports.
I was only able to go to Fenway a handful of times as a kid, and I can assure you that every one of those trips is burned into my memory. My dad wasn't exactly big on the whole concept of the "father-son" outing, but I can remember the time we took the commuter line from my aunt's house in Needham to Fenway in the late '70s. I'll never forget how big the park seemed, and the crazy vendors hawking their wares. I can remember jumping out of my first base line box seat and spilling my popcorn when Yaz curled a 2-2 fastball around the Pesky Pole to win it.
That same ticket next year will cost $125, up from $105 this past year and up from $26 as recently as 10 years ago, according to the Boston Globe. And assuming you can get tickets, Team Marketing Reports' most recent fan cost index says that tickets for a family of four, parking, four hot dogs, two programs and two adult-size Red Sox caps will run you $313.83, the highest average price in the majors and almost $40 more than what the Evil Empire charges in the Bronx.
While Red Sox management works to price out the poorer fans, the front office will soon see a ballpark polluted with what I call the "pink hat c rowd," a parade of well-heeled, yuppie slugs who wouldn't know the difference between a fastball and the meatball they ate at Davio's in the North End the night before. In the minds of the Werner and Henry crowd, these people may be a better class of fan, but they are fair-weathers at best, and they'll be gone with the first losing season. These people are there to see and be seen, and they are absolutely not the fan base that lives or dies with their team.
The ones I feel the worst for are the kids, the ones you see standing by the entrances looking for autographs and who bring their gloves to batting practice in hopes of catching an errant ball. They are the future of Red Sox Nation, and a lot of them will never get a chance to see a game because of simple greed on the parts of the owners.
"We need revenue to fuel the vision that we have, and that is a vision for a competitive, entertaining team each year," Red Sox President-CEO Larry Lucchino said. I'll be curious to see what happens when that vision doesn't get realized, and the pink hats start disappearing from what used to be one of the best places in the world to spend a summer afternoon.
