The Red Seat

The Red Seat
Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21
Fenway's famed red "bleacher" seat now retails for $23-$45 per game.
A vivid reminder of the greatness Ted Williams bestowed upon the Red Sox franchise is the single red seat that stands out amongst its green counterparts in the right field stands.

On June 9, 1946, the Splendid Splinter connected off of Detroit's Fred Hutchinson for the longest home run ever hit in Fenway, landing in the upper part of what was later called the Lower Bleachers.

56-year-old Joe Boucher, a construction engineer from Albany, New York, was in the now-red seat when the ball, which traveled 502 feet, fell from the sky and deflected off his straw hat. But Boucher didn't end up with the ball, adding, "after it hit my head, I was no longer interested."

The seat, located in section 42, row 37, seat 21, was painted red in 1984 to commemorate Williams' titanic blast, although at the time of the home run there were real bleachers in the Bleachers and not individual seats. The bleachers into which the historic clout was hit became history in the late 1970s, when they were replaced by the chairback seats found in Fenway's bleacher sections today.

So that's why, 71 years after the ball was hit and 33 years since the homer was commemorated, fans who are aware of the red seat's history can be seen flocking to its corresponding section in the "bleachers" after each home game to have their picture taken in or around what is the ballpark's most famous seat.


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