Ticket purchasing opportunity - act quickly

The Red Sox just announced a ticket purchasing opportunity that will likely be unavailable after the next day or two. If you are a member of Red Sox Nation, and you go to this link on the Red Sox Web site you will be able to buy tickets to the Tuesday, June 16th game against the Florida Marlins. But there is a catch -- first you have to buy a gift membership to Red Sox Nation for someone. Then you will receive an email telling you when you can log in on May 13th to buy your tickets for the June 16th game.

The first 1300 members of Red Sox Nation who take advantage of this offer to buy a gift membership will be guaranteed the ticket purchasing opportunity.

Also, the game on June 16th will be the first ever Red Sox Nation Day at Fenway.

Lonborg and Petrocelli to highlight April 27 CT Dugout Club Event

Jim Lonborg and Rico Petrocelli, two stars from the Red Sox 1967 Impossible Dream team, will highlight the final 2009 meeting of the CT Dugout Club on April 27th at the Groton Inn and Suites in Groton, CT. The CT Dugout Club is an organization founded by Roger LaFrancois, a 1982 Red Sox catcher. Other guests this year have included Bill Lee, Tommy John, Bob Stanley, and Rich Gedman.

The event, entitled Remembering the '67 Impossible Dream Red Sox, runs from 6 to 9 p.m. and will feature a free autograph session from 6 to 6:45 and a speaking program from 6:45 to 9. The program is candid, entertaining, and lively, and fans are able to ask questions of the guests. The cost is $40 for adults, $20 for teenagers, and children 12 and under with an adult are free. Complimentary hors d'oeurves are served and a cash bar is available. For more information go to ctdugoutclub.com.

Boston Globe says Fenway will be site of NHL's 2010 Winter Classic

Although the Red Sox haven't confirmed it yet, the Boston Globe has reported that Fenway Park will host the NHL's 2010 Winter Classic on January 1, 2010. The Winter Classic is a regular season outdoor hockey game and next year it will feature the Bruins playing either the Washington Capitals or the Philadelphia Flyers.

To read the full story in the Globe, click here.

Tickets released for April 8th and 9th Sox games

As the Red Sox often do, they have released tickets for tonight's 2nd game of the season against the Rays at Fenway. As of 5:20 a.m. on Wednesday, April 8th, there were plenty of good seats together in Outfield Grandstand Section 9, Row 9 ($30 each), Infield Grandstand Section 29, Row 9 ($50 each), Right Field Box 89 ($50 each), and for $90 each there are seats in the upper level Pavilion Box and Loge Box. However, the Loge Box seats available, while directly behind home plate and only 15 rows from the field, have a very annoying walkway obstruction with fans walking back and forth in front of you for much of the game.

For Thursday's 1:35 p.m. game, the only seats available were Infield Grandstand Section 29 (very good seats for $50 each), but if you check back later today or early tomorrow morning there are likely to be more tickets made available.

Go to the Red Sox Web site to purchase tickets.

As always, you should have the Fenway Ultimate Fan's Guide in hand so you will know if your seats will have a pole obstruction, and you will know exactly how many rows from the field your seats will be before you buy them. The book can be purchased through Amazon or immediately as a downloadable eBook. See the column on the right under the book cover for all the ways to buy the book.

As of this morning there were no tickets (other than a few scattered single seats) available for the first home weekend series of the year, April 17th to the 20th against Baltimore, but check the Red Sox Web site early in the morning of April 16th and 17th and there are likely to be tickets available.

Fenway guide book now available as downloadable eBook for $6.95

You can now buy Fenway!: The Ultimate Fan's Guide, 2009 Edition as a downloadable PDF eBook for $6.95. This book includes the Grandstand obstructed seat diagrams (so you will never get stuck behind a pole at Fenway again), and all other chapters in the book.

As an alternative, you can purchase the Fenway Park Obstructed Seating Guide, which includes only the Grandstand obstructed seat diagrams and information on how far each row in the main seating bowl is from the field, as an eBook for $4.50.

You must have a PayPal account to purchase either of these PDF eBooks.

Click here to purchase the eBook Fenway!: The Ultimate Fan's Guide for $6.95.

Click here to purchase the eBook Fenway Park Obstructed Seating Guide for $4.50.

Please email fenwayguide@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Red Sox, Aramark freeze concession prices for 2009, offer half-price food in April for 1 hour after gates open

The Red Sox recently announced that they have reached an agreement with Aramark, the concessionaire for Fenway Park, to keep the price of food sold inside the park at the same levels as 2008. This is a nice gesture and a nod to the economic recession. It follows the announcement in December that the Red Sox would not raise ticket prices for this year. In truth, the Red Sox have only raised ticket prices slightly for most of the seats in the ballpark in the past several years anyway. Infield Grandstand, Outfield Grandstand, Bleacher and Right Field Box tickets are at most $5 more than they were 5 years ago. This should make Red Sox fans very happy that they are not Yankee or Met fans, given the astronomical price of tickets for their new stadiums.

In addition to keeping food prices inside the park the same as last year, the Red Sox announced that some items will be half-price for the first hour after the gates open during April. These items include Fenway Franks, pretzels, popcorn, and pizza slices. This is another very nice gesture that will save fans some money, and it would be even better if the team kept the policy for the entire year.

Click here for the full press release.