Janet Marie Smith is the Vice President of Development and Planning of the Boston Red Sox.
Ms. Smith discusses the significance of venue in baseball, explaining that "the ballpark is in effect the 10th man on
the team." The quirky nature of Fenway Park's playing field, she argues, is what has made it so widely loved, and this is "the kind of
attitude about ballparks that has spawned this latest rash of new stadiums."
In order to discuss Fenway Park in the context of its status as America's oldest and smallest ballpark, Ms. Smith
provides a history of playing fields, beginning with the venues of the 1960s and 1970s when facilities were multi-purpose (used for both
baseball and football) and the importance of the ballpark as a unique venue for baseball was completely ignored. Fans became bored with
the anonymity of these facilities, and by the late 1980s there were plans for new ballparks such as Camden Yards in Baltimore. There was
an increased effort to make the stadiums more consistent with the downtown urban setting, thereby conforming stylistically and
catalyzing further urban development. The development team (of which Ms. Smith is a part) worked to make the fans a greater part of the
game and tried to make the facade of the building less ambiguous, adding components of the lore and successes of the Red Sox. The
current owners of Fenway Park, Ms. Smith says, try to make the "oldest, smallest ballpark in the major leagues function in a more modern
fashion so that it accommodates its fans, it accommodates its players, and it has a longer lease on life, but without losing the charm
that has made it Fenway all these years."
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