I Dispute 5 Criticisms WBLM’s Chris Sedenka Has About Fenway Park

I have nothing against Chris Sedneka personally, who you can hear weekdays on WBLM from 2 to 7 p.m. He's very talented at what he does and an all-around nice guy. But his recent article titled "We Need To Stop Pretending Fenway Park is a Top 5 Stadium," just hurts. Read his original article here:

I take issue with five of his criticisms of our beloved Fenway Park.

Recently, Men's Health Magazine ranked 30 Major League Baseball stadiums based on structure and the surrounding area. Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox,  ranked very high at number four out of the 30 ballparks.

Chris however, doesn't agree, and he lists why he thinks Fenway isn't deserving of fourth place point by point. So let's look at his points one by one and examine why Chris is wrong:

1. Parking: Horrendous. And yes, parking is part of the building's structure. If you decide to build a stadium in the city, you will get the negative feedback of failing to understand evolution of humanity. Parking is awful. There's nothing more brutal than parking in a different town to take a train in.

First, Fenway Park is a "park." not a stadium. The Yankees play in a stadium. That might be nitpicky, but let's go with that.

Fenway Park was built in 1912 when only 9 out of every 1000 people in America owned a car. Public transportation by train and streetcar was how people got to Fenway. Most people still get to Fenway by train today. You think the parking rates in Portland are bad? Boston is insane. Hop on the Amtrak Downeaster, ride into North Station and take The T to Kenmore and avoid the hassle.

2. Gates: They are too tight, too few, and strangely not in alphabetical order. It makes zero sense.

Fenway is only so big. That's its charm. Five gates seem like plenty for a ballpark of its size. As for the gates not being in alphabetical order, they've added gates throughout Fenway's history but never bothered to rename them in order, probably because of nostalgia. Besides, you can enter at any gate you want, so no big deal right?

3. Concourse: Tragically bad. Do you enjoy feeling like a sardine? Well, Fenway is for you. My favorite feature is when you are walking and there's just a section of seats that blocks your way to the next part of the park. Just a swell design.

I'm seeing a theme here with the complaints Chris. When it comes right down to it, you have an issue with the size of Fenway. It has been packed in the concourse ever since I went for the first time over 40 years ago. The trade-off is you get to sit closer to the action than you would at many other ballparks.

4. Seats: Hahahahahahahaha (deep breath) hahahahahahahahahaha. Unless you are paying hundreds of dollars for a prime seat, you are going to need to see a physical therapist by the 7th inning. They are amazingly uncomfortable seats. I'm pretty sure some of them are still from the 1920's. On top of that, there are basically ZERO seats that actually line up correctly with the field. It's quite astonishing.

Charm Chris. Charm. Having aspects of Fenway still stuck in time when baseball was the national pastime and the most watched sport, give Fenway that charm. Why do you think baseball has a seventh inning stretch? Do you want the number of my chiropractor?

5. Obstructed View: It's 2022, and you can still buy a seat at Fenway where you have to watch the game on a monitor. "It's all part of the experience!" Not for $80 a pop, buddy.

It is totally all part of the experience. Sure, tickets aren't $7.50 for a field box seat like they were back when I was a kid, but if you want the experience at Fenway, you'll take what you can get at a price that fits your wallet. You don't go to a Patriots game at Gillette 10 rows from the top for the view. You go for the experience, otherwise, you'd just stay home and watch the game. Same thing with Fenway.

6. Bathrooms: Listen, they could be worse. I'll give them that.

This we can agree on and they used to be worse. Troughs in the men's room. I'll just leave it at that.

Fenway Park is magical and no other park in Major League Baseball can match what makes it unique. It is well-deserving of the honor of fourth place and is still "America's Most Beloved Park."

Let's go to a game sometime Chris. I'll sit behind the pole and buy your first beer.