With one phone call most likely. Romney, who is brain dead and ruuning for President, needs chits from rich powerful people. (yes I know Werner is Democrat- I am sure he has Republican California friends – California baby, not just any state.)
Why do we allow an extremely wealthy Hollywood producer/slash sports team owner to use his influence over our governor so as to take advantage of a family tragedy and ingratiate himself with his friend/very powerful person who can influence significant amounts of $$$$ for both his television productions and his sports team?
Does anyone have a problem with this? The family is from Connecticut/ Metropolitan NYC. Yes, I understand young Teddy was a Red Sox Fan.
This “New Boston” has really been one of “exploit Boston”. The Red Sox ownership and Governor Romney are the best of the best at looking down at us as they tell us how great they are for us. Got that? I don’t think they respect us. Do you?
Romney is like the provincial governor the king sent and Red Sox ownership are like businessmen in a British colony. Like the Vatican taking precious artifacts from around the world or imperialists hiring locals at slave wages and brutal condidions, we are just an opportunity to exploit.
I always considered the Red Sox and other sports teams like the family pet. Nobody in the family gets more love, attention, kisses, and hugs then the dog. But if the hurricane is coming and there is only so much room in the car, the dog doesn’t go. The dog also does not have a vote or say in family business.
In the “New Boston” the family dog gets to invite all his dog friends over and hang out in our living room. What’s worse is they don’t go outside to take care of their business. (If ya know what I mean?) They just go where they please. Knowing it’s not their house.
Years ago Joe Moakly and other ‘old school’pols like him could catch crap by the good government types because they back doored the nameing of a local something after a local politician, local war veteran, local leader, local rich guy, or plain old local character who everyone knew. Key word being local, including the politician that made it happen. The naming however, would occur after the need for a project was identified. The naming was a side event for something that was going to be built anyway.
This, on the other hand, was a pillage and rape naming.
Wouldn’t it have been nice to build a little league field in a place near where kids play little league? Where there is parking for families. Where there is not a bustling neighborhood of young adults who prefer to use their very limited nearby fields and parks for adult games. Where the field is not on a prime piece of recreational urban land designed by one of historyâs top urban landscaper? (Olmstead) In a neighborhood or on a piece of land that would really serve a need? Where there was no hope of someone stepping up to the plate to improve it?
Wouldn’t it have been nice to put some thought into what best should go there
Make no mistake, this was a self-serving, narcissistic, ego driven insult to Melvin Leaderman’s memory, the Back Bay residents, Boston, and Massachusetts.
It is getting tougher and tougher everyday for me to root for the Red Sox.
Don’t be surprised if we see a made for television movie. Perhaps an after school special?
Perfect. A combo naming rights deal on a prime piece of property along with a movie deal.
Ending credits roll over a picture of the baseball glove enshrined at the field. Just like Werner planned. New stop on the Duck Tours.
Conceived and produced by Tom Werner. Naming rights negotiated by the Fenway Sports Group.
As tough as this is to even think, I really would like Tom Werner/Larry Luchino/ and John Henry to experience a few really bad seasons and have less the 20,000 show up for each game.
i found something odd about this also.
I also thought it was odd, but I didn’t have the context of who the field used to be named for. Nicely done!
I just rolled up a spleef, smoked it, and spit that out. You can relate, right? roll-a-bone.
kidding,
relax
smiles
Yes…I found this odd, particularly the Globe press coverage. Now it makes sense.
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In a way this reminds me of a similar situation in Somerville last year. It was proposed that the new stadium at Dilboy Field be renamed for the late state senator Charlie Shannon. Someone mobilized the Greek community and it was squashed.
But that was a local tribal fight among equals. The Ebersol Park is an example of a large scale arrogance and superiority that most avergae folks don’t know exists nor would believe it exists.
They are business partners with Tom Werner, John Henry, Lrry Luchino.
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The editors and writers hate that. But theyhave bosses and mortgages. Don’t blame the working stiffs on Morrissey Blvd. Blame the arrogant bastards that own the presses.
Woo hoo!
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I’ve always felt uneasy, but tool busy to worry. It just seemed very fake — and I hate the idea of anyone (including but not limited to corporations) buying public space — even if its only a name, and even if its leased (temporary), and even though they’re helping offset taxes.
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This stunk of that. I haven’t been over to see the fields, but my recollection is that they refurbed fields that already existed. Is this the case, or did they change the area either by (a) building fields, or (b) changing adult sized fields to kid sized fields?
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P.S. The “parking for families” is a throwaway garbage line. This is the city. Families can ride the subway, the bus, walk, or ride bikes to the park. It’s very accessible to much of the city without the need for a car. I’m in favor of not accomodating drivers with public land. How much of Boston public land is paved? How much isn’t? The extreme majority of land in Boston is paved — think about it. But, this P.S. doesn’t take away from the rest of my agreeing with EBIII, save the “hope for woe” parts.
Thanks stormv. I appreciate your comment. On the “parking for families” however, I disagree with you. In all neighborhoods in Boston you will find people driving their kids to the 2 hour little league game. Dorchester, Southie, East Boston, West Roxbury, … people drive to the game. If it is around the corner, they walk. They also take their other kids. Toddlers etc.
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Stormv, most respectfully, I doubt you have school age children. They usually are in all sorts of activities. Believe me, you do not want to schlep over to the esplanade for the little league games. Just not a good fit.
These parks are not in a natural place where a local little league will play. There is no Back Bay or Beacon Hill LittleLeague (i am pretty sure)
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A little leaguer game should not be played where the parents are required to Take the T to get there or have to pay $$$ to park. So where r these kids comong from? What is it, something special to play there?
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I would be pissed if my kids had to play there. It is not easy to get there by T. There is no parking close by.
Plus expensive if you have to pay. Then you have to walk a very very long distance to get to fields. Whether by T station or whereever the hell u had to park.
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Meanwhile the huge huge population of childless 20 and 30 somethings that make up those nearby neighborhoods can’t play soft ball or ‘big people’ baseball on the fields.
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Flag football, rugby, lacrosse, ultimate frisbee, and all the other things adults play take a back seat. They can’t use their ‘neighborhood field’ for what they want to use it for.
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Actually this is a short and easy walk to both Charles and Science Park stations.
Not the same. You prove my point.
So where r these people coming from to play at this little league filed. How many trains and buses did they have to take to get to Science Park or Charles street?
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A five hour day for your kids little league.
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How about some empathy for the parents?
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Ridiculous for Little League to schedule games there, unless for Back bay or Beacon Hill Little League. – There is none.
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Sorry guys, I live in the real world, not the world I want it to be.
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(Ernie’s back to old form)
lol
The Esplanade is close to the Red Line. It is a short walk or 10 minute subway ride from East Cambridge, which is almost entirely residential and probably has a Little League. Where I grew up in rural Connecticut, nobody complained about having to drive 30 minutes to get to the soccer and baseball fields. My fiancee grew up in Dorchester and went to elementary school on Beacon Hill. Her parents didn’t mind taking her there and back on the T every day. Why do you think people mind a 10-20 minute train ride?
For those parents who don’t have cars, or enough cars for each parent? How about empathy for those?
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The fields in Southie, for example, are great to drive to. Not great to take the T to (Andrew Square is closest, but the neigborhood is quite dodgy at night. I used to live there).
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I’d be willing to be that the same goes for other fields.
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The Esplanade is very accessible by bicycle, foot, green line, and red line… and if the T ever moves on it, the blue line too. It could easily serve the populations along Comm Ave, Beacon Hill, and even some of the area nearer the North End, and (again, relying on the blue line extension), Eastie.
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If it’s a fairly local park, taking public transit isn’t much slower than driving, sitting at lights, finding parking, etc.
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The city must [b]not[/b] feel obligated to placate drivers. There are plenty of parks that are easily accessible by car but not by public transit/self power. They certainly don’t all have to be strip mall based playing fields.
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P.S. I also live in the real world, and it’s one that doesn’t involve me driving (very much). I [i]choose[/i] to live in the city for precisely that reason. So keep your “real world” bullcrap to yourself. We’re all living in the same world here, chief.
You guys for the first time ever actually have me pissed.
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Discussing your perosnal traveling experiences and extrapolating that to this. You guys sound like a Monty Python Skit.
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My fiancee in Dorchester who went to school on Beacon Hill…?
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What r u? ffn’ insane?
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Hundreds of thousands of kids in greater boston for the last 50 years have beem taking the T around town. Going to schools via bus and subway and maybe even another bus.
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My God, trust me. This is not the best place for a Little League field. UnlessI find out differently. Meaning, a god damn little league for Beacon Hill and Back Bay. AND, they had no place to play.
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Jesus Phuckin’ Christ! You’re unbelievable arrogance in setting standards through how you, as a most likly 20 or 30 something healthy working person with NOOO KIDS!!!
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A-Holes
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I really really really meat that.
Your fimances parents are real typical progressives.
“Aren’t we cool? Living in the City” (after growing up in Ct or someplace?
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“And we send our children to swanky private schools on Beacon Hill. And we don’t drive. And we think these white people (irish) here are bad. We help the people of color. God this is a racist city. We need more and more of us progressive minded people to move here.”
See, here’s what’s great about public transit… you don’t do it alone.
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So, I’m not just describing my own experiences. I’m describing the hundreds of thousands of people I see each year on subways, busses, commuter rails, etc. I got news for you, lots of us are schlepping around on the T. Sometimes, it’s uncomfortably packed!
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But you’re right. Very compelling. “My God, trust me.”
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If only you had written that earlier, this conversation would have been over; I’m coverted!
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It’s not about setting standards for those with cars. It’s about providing access to those both with cars and those without. The fact is, if you add up the number of playing fields in Boston Metro, and then consider (a) how many are easy to drive to but not get there with public transit, and (b) how many are easy to get there by public transit but not by car, you’ll find that (a) is far, far larger than (b). Drivers already have access to nearly every single field, but non-drivers don’t. So, now there are a whopping four fields that drivers won’t be able to pull up right next to. Big freaking deal.
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I steak my claim.
Sorry Stormv,
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My Post is about the naming of the park anfd how it was done.
Whether it is a good place for a Little League Field is a side issue which I probably should have left alone.
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But really stormv. If you had a kid in a little league game at 5:30 on a tuesday and you had to get there by T and it was at the Espalnade and you lived in East Boston, Charlestown, Southj Boston, West Roxbury, Roxbury,Dorchester,HydePark, Jamaica Plain, Brighton etc….
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If you wouldn’t be cursing out the Little League for making you go there to play, well then, you are a Better person than me.
if you had a kid and a little league game, and you didn’t have a car (like a whole bunch of us in the city) or your family only had one and your wife was driving your other kid to dance practice, you’d really appreciate that there were more fields that were available by public transit, because otherwise you couldn’t get your kid there in the first place.
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So yes, we agree about the naming crap, and we disagree on public policy regarding the location of greenspaces.
Actually, there is a Beacon Hill Little League which plays on the small field on the Common.
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I played in a very successful Sunday league there for many years. We called it “Riverball Stadium” for all the throws that eluded the first baseman and went into the Charles, thus becoming a “river ball”. Some facitiously called it “Gene McCarthy Stadium” after our legendary commissioner and captain of the Harvard Gardens softball team. No one in the league ever expected the state to do more than occasionally mow the grass, which was iffy, we just wanted to play ball along the water on a nice Sunday afternoon.
EB3 – that was awesome!
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I had NO clue about the background of all this – other than the fact that they named their son after Teddy Kennedy.
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THANK YOU for a great post.
consider entering politics. I would volunteer a lot of my valuable time in order to help you campaign. The office? GOVERNOR! Your popularity is still growing, and your opinions are a breath of fresh air. Certainly you are beyond being bought, and your business management/marketing skills make you qualified (as much as anyone else) to run and promote the great Corporation of Massachusetts. It’s too late to enter this election, but think about the next one, EB3. You could pull this off. You have 4 years to plan it, so get moving.
“Certainly you are beyond being bought”
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Try Me.
How about the Red Sox who have the second highest total player salaries in Baseball, second only to the Yankees. What a surprise that the playoffs always include those teams. The RS beat the Devil Rays two weeks ago . DRay salary estimate $35,000,000….Red Sox somewhere around $170,000,000. What a freaking joke! Unbelievable! 5 times the salary and the fans still watch the game with passion . I don’t get it.He who has the most money wins. Sort of like our political system.
Sorry ,but I remember seeing Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle play at Fenway for $8 in the bleachers and that was real sport. Do you actually think we beat the “curse”, or do you think we bought the “curse”?
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World Cup Soccer, College sports and NFL (which has a salary cap)..are real sport. Sorry there are many others like golf etc. that should also be included.
Excellent post, EB3. I too, was unaware of the back-story behind the park’s previous and deserving namesake. Something rubbed me the wrong way when I first heard about the fields and their dedication. While Teddy’s death is obviously a tragedy, in no way does he warrant a public park in the City of Boston named after him, regardless of how much money the Ebersols or the Red Sox throw around.
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IMO, public spaces, monuments, etc., if named after individuals, should honor those who served the public or worked for the greater good of their fellow man. When my children ask me who Lenny Zakim was I can say that he worked tirelessly to promote racial harmony in the city. If they ask why Ted Williams has a tunnel, I can tell them that he was instrumental in drawing awareness to cancer research and making the Jimmy Fund what it is today.
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Some cheap advertising space for a local sports team and a tax write-off for the parents of a child of priviledge is not how/why I want my parks designated.
I just want to know why it’s still fenced off and inaccessible — as is the adjoining bike path. If it was dedicated last Saturday, why is it still closed?
Plus Hamptons and all.
I don’t have an opinion on the naming – Romney – Red Sox connection/controversy, so I’m not going to comment on that.
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But it’s really a very nice project. The land was already being used for youth athletic fields, but they were a wreck – worn down, poorly maintained, and because the drainage was so bad, they were flooded and unusable half the time.
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This public-private partnership raised money to turn these into top quality fields for kids to play on. Most of the work was donated, and the rest was paid for by a public private partnership. (I’m not sure why you speak so disparagingly of private money being raised for the public good. Could it be spent “better” elsewhere? Possibly. But these people don’t have to give it away, you know. And if they want to give money towards building better rec fields for kids…well, then, let them.)
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And from what I’ve been told, the fields are pretty well booked for most of the summer, so I don’t think all this work and money is going to go to waste. I think a lot of kids are going to get to play on a great field.
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And I don’t understand why you have a problem with that, Ernie.
Here is my response