Registration for Ticket Purchasing Opportunity for Opening Day and Yankee tickets ends Monday, February 2nd at noon

You can register at RedSox.com for the chance to buy tickets to Opening Day or any of the 9 Yankee games at Fenway this year. Registration ends Monday, February 2nd at noon. Go to this page on the Red Sox Web site to register. The registration form says that you can register until March 2nd, but when you read closely down below, you will see that March 2nd is the deadline to register for the chance to buy tickets to the Right Field Roof Deck Restaurant. Registration for the chance to buy Green Monster seat tickets ends Friday, February 13th at noon. (You only have to enter once for all three opportunities). You want to make sure you are entered by February 2nd because there are many more tickets available for Opening Day and the Yankee games, so your chances of being selected to purchase tickets is much greater.

TIP: The registration rules state that you can only submit one entry per person. However, the way the system works is that each unique email address counts as one entry. So you should enter your name with as many email addresses as you have access to: your personal email, work, your spouse, your kids, etc. You will know you have multiple entries when after the drawing you will receive multiple messages from the Red Sox telling you that you weren't selected to purchase tickets -- and maybe one or two messages that say you were selected.

Buy the new edition of Fenway!: The Ultimate Fan's Guide

The new edition of Fenway!: The Ultimate Fan's Guide is available at Amazon.com, or directly from the publisher at CreateSpace.com.

In addition to telling you everything you need to know about going to a game at Fenway, such as how to get tickets and where to eat and drink before the game, it is the only place where you will find detailed seating diagrams for all 33 grandstand sections showing you which seats are obstructed by the park's infamous poles. The seats with obstructions are often not marked that way by the team, so this is an invaluable resource.

SAVE $5 Off the list price by buying directly from the publisher, CreateSpace. Just purchase the book at CreateSpace.com and use the discount code CZNTPNHG when you are in the shopping cart. Do not be alarmed by the apparently slow delivery dates they provide. The books actually ship within a day or two of your order. CreateSpace is a new publishing company owned by Amazon.

Red Sox Tickets for Remaining Regular Season Games to go on Sale Saturday

As they have been doing for the past several years, the Red Sox are putting the remaining single game tickets on sale the Saturday between the NFL conference championship games and the Super Bowl. This Saturday the 24th at 10 a.m. tickets for about 45 games will go on sale. This includes all non-Yankee games in June, July and August, as well as games in April, May, and September that were not put on sale back in December. To purchase tickets, go to redsox.com Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and you will be put in the Virtual Waiting Room. You may be there all day and never get the opportunity to buy tickets. You can walk away from your browser and come back periodically to check it to see if you are in.

TIP:If you don't get in, you may want to try to get in about 2 or 3 in the morning on Sunday. By then most people have logged off and you have a better chance of getting in. However, most of the tickets will already be gone by then, especially all weekend games. But you may have a chance to pick up 2 or more tickets together for a game during the week.

The Red Sox are also using a phone ordering system this year run by tickets.com. The number is 1-888-327-0100. This replaces the old Red Sox-run 24-hour touch tone ticketing system, which always seemed to be hopelessly busy the first day tickets went on sale. TIP: try this new phone system simultaneously with the online system. Because it is being run by tickets.com, there may be more lines that can be opened and it may be easier to get into.

Read the entire press release from the Red Sox on their Web site.

Tickets for all Yankee games, Opening Day, and all seats for the Green Monster and the Right Field Roof Deck Restaurant will be made available through an online lottery in February or March. Check this blog periodically for information on the lottery.

Red Sox to hand out ticket vouchers this weekend across New England

In another effort to give as many fans as possible a chance to buy Red Sox tickets, the "Red Sox Road Trip," a travelling bus with Red Sox staff, will be making stops across New England this weekend, handing out vouchers good for the guaranteed purchase of two tickets. All distributed vouchers, which will be valid for two 2009 Red Sox Regular Season Pre-Sale tickets, must be redeemed online at www.redsox.com between noon on Tuesday, January 20 and noon on Friday, January 23. The busses will be making at least one stop in each New England state, mainly at malls, between Saturday, Jan. 17th and Monday, Jan. 19th. For details on where they will be and when, read the full press release from the Red Sox.

Fire on corner of Kilmarnock and Peterborough Streets Closes 6 Restaurants

An early morning fire on January 6, 2009 destroyed a diverse group of 6 restaurants a few blocks from Fenway Park that fans often used to congregate before and after games. The restaurants, which were all located side by side in a quiet residential neighborhood, included: Sorento's Italian Gourmet, Umi Japanese Cuisine and Sushi Bar, El Pelon Taqueria, Greek Isles, Roddee 2 Thai Cuisine, and Thornton's Fenway Grille. Read more about the fire in the Boston Herald.