One of the oldest stadiums in the United States is adapting to the coronavirus. In the past few days, the Boston Red Sox converted several areas of Fenway Park to support a safe opening of summer camp and allow for social distancing between players as the Major League Baseball continues to rise to try to start the 2020 season.
Among the changes is the conversion of Fenway’s luxurious suites into changing rooms, with each room accommodating two players. Due to the baseball stadium opening in 1912, Fenway Park’s locker rooms remain among the smallest in all professional sports, an environment that would be physically impossible for athletes at a safe social distance.
The Red Sox converted the Fenway Park concourse into an expanded gym and outdoor batting cage, and converted the luxury suites into locker rooms (photos courtesy of @redsox) pic.twitter.com/wbrWW0YEto
– joon (@joonlee) July 3, 2020
In addition, the team converted the right field esplanade, an area that is typically full of fans awaiting concessions, into an expanded gym and training area, including the installation of an outdoor batting cage, grass on top from the existing concrete floor and a launch mound under the bleachers.
“In addition to the significant expanded space provided in the rooms, improved air circulation is also a benefit of covered but not completely enclosed areas,” according to a Red Sox press release.
The Red Sox will also use Boston College’s Harrington Athletic Village and McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, home of its affiliate Triple-A, as alternative training sites.
Boston is not the only team that turns the space typically reserved for fans into a usable training facility. The Houston Astros are currently turning Minute Maid Park into a summer camp as well.
“I am using every inch of Minute Maid,” Astros bench coach Joe Espada told the Houston Chronicle. “The storm is definitely not over. Now is the time to make a schedule where you can space the boys out, maximize the space we have, be efficient with the time we spend on the field, so that creates many challenges. But I think we are in a good place. “
.
