Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The
TD Banknorth Garden,
100 Legends Way (Causeway St.;
&
617/624-1000
for events line or 617/931-2000 for Ticketmaster; www.tdbanknorthgarden.com), is
open for tours on the hour from 11am to 3pm daily, depending on the arena sched-
ule. Tours concentrate on the displays in the fifth- and sixth-floor concourses, where
the
Sports Museum of New England
(
&
617/624-1235;
www.sportsmuseum.org)
celebrates local teams and athletes of all ages—especially the Celtics and Bruins, who
play in the building. Tickets cost $6 for adults, $4 for seniors and children 6 to 17,
free for children under 6. Always call ahead; there's no access during events.
Note:
Visitors may not bring any bags, including backpacks and briefcases, into the arena.
Beyond the “big four” professional sports and dozens of college options, several
lower-profile pro franchises call the Boston area home. The New England Revolution
(
&
877/438-7387;
www.revolutionsoccer.net) of
Major League Soccer
plays at
Gillette Stadium on Route 1 in Foxboro from April through October. Tickets cost $19
to $37 and are available through Ticketmaster (
&
617/931-2000;
www.ticketmaster.
com). The Boston Cannons of
Major League Lacrosse
(
&
888/847-9700
or 617/
746-9933; www.bostoncannons.com) play at Harvard Stadium from mid-May through
mid-August; tickets cost $10 to $20. The
Boston Breakers
of Women's Professional
Soccer (WPS;
&
877/439-2732
or 781/251-2100; www.womensprosoccer.com/
boston) plan to resume play in April 2009. The team, a WUSA franchise before that
league went under, will play at Harvard Stadium beginning in April 2009; check the
website for updates.
BASEBALL
Ho-hum, another World Series championship—that's something you'll
never
hear from
a true
Boston Red Sox
fan. The baseball world was still pinching itself over the team's
2004 title, which ended an 86-year dry spell, when the Sox brought home the 2007
crown. “Home” is legendary
Fenway Park
, and no other experience in all of
sports matches watching a game there. Fenway was already selling out well before the
2004 Series, and tickets remain a precious commodity, sky-high prices notwithstanding.
The season runs from early April to early October, later if the team makes the play-
offs. The quirkiness of the oldest park in the major leagues (1912), rich with history
and atmosphere, only adds to the mystique. A hand-operated scoreboard fronts the
37-foot left-field wall, or “Green Monster.” Watch carefully during a pitching change—
the left fielder from either team might suddenly disappear into a door in the wall to
get out of the sun. Most seats are narrow and uncomfortable, but also gratifyingly
close to the field.
One of the most imaginative management teams in baseball strives to make visit-
ing Fenway worth the big bucks. Yawkey Way turns into a sort of carnival midway for
ticketholders before games, with concession stands, live music, and other diversions.
New sections of seats keep cropping up in previously unused areas of the ballpark,
notably including the section
above
the Green Monster.
Practical concerns:
Compared with its modern brethren, Fenway is tiny. Tickets
are the most expensive in the majors—a few upper bleacher seats go for $12, but most
are in the $25-to-$90 range, with the best dugout boxes topping $300, and that's
if
you pay face value. They go on sale in December; order early. Forced to choose
between seats in a low-numbered grandstand section—say, 10 or below—and in the
bleachers, go for the bleachers. They can get rowdy during night games, but the view
is better from there than from deep in right field. “Monster” seats top out at $120 and
go on sale by lottery in batches throughout the season; check the website. A limited
