Fenway Park anniversaries through the years
From SABR member Wendy Thurm at FanGraphs.com on April 20, 2012:
Friday marks the 100th anniversary of the first baseball game played at Fenway Park. The Boston Red Sox christened their new stadium on April 20, 1912 in a game against the New York Yankees. Those two teams will commemorate that first Fenway Park game by playing on Friday in throwback uniforms evocative of the time. The game will start at 3:00 in the afternoon, just like that first game 100 years ago.
The Red Sox won the World Series in their inaugural season in Fenway Park, beating the New York Giants four games to three. But the Red Sox failed to makes the playoffs in any significant anniversary year. They missed the playoffs in the years of the 25th, 50th and 75th anniversaries, recording a winning record only in the 25th anniversary year. That year (1937) they went 80-72 but finished fifth out of eight American League teams. They also missed the playoffs in the years of the 20th, 40th, 60th and 80th anniversaries. In all but one of those seasons, they had a losing record. Only in the 60th anniversary year of Fenway Park did the Red Sox have a winning record, going 85-70 in 1972 and finishing second in the American League East.
Read the full article here: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/fenway-park-anniversaries-through-the-years/
Originally published: April 20, 2012. Last Updated: April 20, 2012.