4. Fenway Park opened less than a week after the sinking of the Titanic
On April 20, 1912, fans of the Boston Red Sox gathered for the first time at the brand new ballpark built on the recovered marshes known as the Back Bay Fens. Their opponent that spring day was the New York Highlanders, a team which was not yet the bitter rival they would eventually become. The popular mayor of Boston was on hand both to attend the Opening Day festivities and to throw out the “first pitch”, already a baseball tradition. His name was John F. Fitzgerald, a politician of considerable charm and skill, which had earned him the nickname “Honey Fitz”. His grandson, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, would use the name for his yacht while serving as Senator and later as President of the United States half a century later. A seagoing vessel was the subject of discussion among the fans that day and overshadowed the news of the new ballpark on the front pages of Boston’s newspapers.
As Honey Fitz entered the ballpark through the main entrance at 24 Jersey Street (today 4 Yawkey Way) the conversations he overheard were not of excitement over the new baseball season and the Red Sox’s new and modern home. Instead, the topic which dominated conversation and the headlines that day was the tragic sinking of the Titanic, the full scope of which was as yet unknown. Public shock at the death toll and the failure of the ship’s crew to safely evacuate so many of the passengers were already the dominant subject of discussion and seagoing Boston, like so many eastern American cities, was rife with rumor and opinion over what had really happened. Over the decades since that first opening day, Fenway Park and RMS Titanic have both developed legends surrounding their storied existence, with the ballpark into its second century of service, and Titanic eternally on its first voyage.