In the early months of 1912, the Chinese Republic was established, New Mexico and Arizona became the 47th and 48th states, the first eastbound transcontinental flight landed in Jacksonville Florida and this man, Frederick Law,  parachuted off the top of the Statue of Liberty.

And while the Italian forces were becoming the first to use “airships” for military purposes, the Girl Scouts were forming in Savannah Georgia; Mrs. William Howard Taft was readying to plant the first cherry trees in Washington DC, and Cy Young was deciding it was time to retire from baseball, this man,

James McAleer, president of the Boston Red Sox, was conducting a tour for the Boston “baseball editors” on the soon to be finished,brand spanking new, Fenway Park. Construction for the ballpark began in September of 1911 and by the first week of March in 1912, and six weeks away from its official opening, Fenway Park was ready, through the 11 city newspapers, to be introduced to the Royal Rooters and the people of Boston.

Top, L-R: Os W. Brown (Boston Traveler), Mose Chandler, Samuel P. Carrick, (Boston Journal), Charles Leary (Fall River), Timothy Murnane (Boston Globe), Sam Crane (New York Journal), O. J. Burke (Boston Journal).

Bottom, L-R: Wallace Goldsmith (Boston Globe sports cartoonist), Arthur Cooper (Boston Post), Herman Nickerson (Boston Journal), Ralph E. McMillan (Boston Herald), Jake C. Morse (Baseball Magazine), Paul Shannon (Boston Post).

A few of these boys made the tour.

Fenway Park March 1912.

It appears as if a couple of Vito Corleone’s boys were in charge of keeping the newspaper men away from certain parts of the construction site as was reported in the Boston Sunday Post’s Sporting Section. For the editors “viewed a bewildering variety of “No Passing” and “Don’t Walk Here” signs and two or three black browed  sons of sunny Italy who showed every disposition to enforce all regulations”. Does that sound politically correct? Just wondering.

 Fenway’s Right Field Grandstand.

 It was a brisk, no make that cold, wind which blew around the new Fenway Park that early March day. In fact it was so windy that it garnered the Post headlines, “Plenty of Air at New Red Sox Park” and the writers attempted to “make out that the wintry gale was a balmy summer breeze” however that effort went “without much success”.

The more adventuresome of the group actually ventured on up to the roof “where there was more air than ever….but the visit was worthwhile as the only way to obtain a complete realization of the immensity of the stands and the grounds is to get on top of it.” Those of lesser heart merely retired to the unfinished business offices where they warmed themselves by a fire.

The consensus of the day was that “every seat will be a good one…..and the curvature and the pitch of the seats is far superior to the arrangement of Forbes Field in Pittsburgh the only park which can approach the local American grounds in completeness of fitting up.”

The final thought was that “if President McAleer can make good on his promise of a team to fit the grounds, there will be nothing whatever to grumble about.”

Well, President McAleer did make good on his promise. The 1912 Red Sox won 105 games the most in their history. The 1912 Red Sox won their third American League pennant. The 1912 Red Sox won Fenway Parks first ever World Series. There was nothing to grumble about, nothing to grumble about at all.

 Although the past century has given the Fenway Faithful and Red Sox Nation a few things to “grumble about”, one thing remains certain, and that is that “altogether the fans will be accommodated in a fashion never before approached in New England.” It was true then and it remains true today, a century later!

And so it was on this date in Fenway Park history, March 6, 1912.