Fenway?

Why are we still playing in Fenway park?

Let's take a look at the rest of the league:

AL East:
The Blue Jays opened the Skydome in 1989. A revolutionary park.
The Yankees renovated in the mid-70's and opened New Yankee Stadium this year.
The Orioles have Camden Yards, the first of the retro parks, opened in the 90's.
The Rays are moving to a new ballpark in a few years.

AL Central:
The Tigers scrapped Tiger Stadium in 2000.
Chicago opened New Comiskey in the early 90's.
The Royals' stadium is ancient, built in the 60's.
The Twins are leaving the metrodome soon, which is actually a mistake because that ballpark was instrumental in their winning two World Series.
The Indians have Jacobs field, built in the 90's.

AL West:
The Mariners just moved from the Kingdome.
The A's are still at the Colosseum, an astoundingly old park, built in 1966.
The Rangers have a newish park, built in 1994.
The Angels have dinosaur, built in 1966.

NL East:
The Marlins are moving soon.
The Mets just opened a new stadium.
The Braves started playing in Turner Field in 1997.
The Phillies left the vet a few years ago.
The Nationals have their own new park.

NL Central:
St. Louis has a new park, opened in 2006.
Great American Ballpark replaced Riverfront as the Reds' home in 2003.
The Brewers have Miller Park, built in 2001.
The Astros have Enron, oh sorry Astros field, which replaced the famous Dome.
Pittsburg's PNC park opened in 2001.


NL West:
AT&T has a view of the San Francisco Bay, a far cry from dreary Candlestick.
The Diamondbacks started out with a new park in 1998.
The Padres have Petco, opened in 2004.
The Dodgers have the third oldest park in baseball, Dodgers Stadium, which was opened in 1962. Real old school by today's standards.
The Rockies moved to Coors field after a few years at Mile High.

That leaves two franchises who refuse to build new ballparks or even properly renovate their existing parks: The Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox.

Wrigley Field symbolizes a long, colorful history of ineptitude. The Cubs blow up the baseballs from the big games they lose. I've got a better idea. Blow up Wrigley and move on with your lives!

As for the Red Sox, the same was true for them until recently (their history had less "color", though). Boston has a history of extended periods of excellence, despite the long drought. They held on with cramped, bizarrely constructed, quirky little Fenway until they finally won the big one (twice). However, now they still cling to it, with no plans to move on the horizon, as if they and the hapless Cubs know better than everyone else. But even for the Red Sox, it's time to move on.

The Yanks won't mind, though, if Fenway holds on a few decades more. We've got lots of fond memories there. To put it in perspective, last year, because the Yankees were forced to start three minor league pitchers in three consecutive days at Fenway, the Sox eked out their first 3-game sweep of the Bombers at Fenway since sweeping the 1990 last place Yankees there. So like I said, the Yankees have plenty of good memories at Fenway. But eventually, for both teams, memories take a back seat, and the future beckons, as in all areas of life.