The New and Improved Fenway Park

The Red Sox may have slipped to 4th on the payroll report, but they continue to spend plenty of money renivating our beloved Fenway Park.

As we gear up for the Home Opener next week, let's take a look at the new and improved Fenway.

The Red Sox have steadily upgraded Fenway since the current owners bought the team in 2002, with the most visible change being the seats added above the Green Monster in 2003. They started at 34,000, but the 2008 Fenway can hold 39,928 fans.

The old 1999 All-Star game trailers have been replaced with a permanent luxury suite and and there have been 412 seats added to the upper deck in left field, below a new new Coca Cola sign that will replace the Coke bottles that used to hover above the Green Monster.

The Red Sox also added a stairwell and elevator in the same corner to improve the flow to and from the seats and several luxury suites have been renovated.

Four new electronic scoreboards along the face of the upper deck bring the ballpark into the 21st century technologically. But, Smith said, the graphics used on the LED screens will be limited to information like scorelines and batting statistics, instead of the fancy graphics used at many arenas.

"It's the best technology one can buy," Smith said, "but the presentation of the information is very traditional."

Picnic tables and concession stands also have been added. A new restaurant under the center field bleachers, where there had been a batting cage, is scheduled to open in May.

Speaking of batting cages... if you haven't already heard, you can watch the pre-game BP from inside the Game On restaurant on game days and rent the cage out when the Red Sox are out of town. More info here.

Lastly, the Red Sox removed a hawk nest after a young girl was attacked while on a Fenway Park tour. Apparently this has been a problem since 2005...

It's the little things, like removing a nest full of killer birds, that make all the difference...

Bottom Line: Leave it Larry Luccino to use any interview as a means to stoke the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry fire...

"With the Yankees opening a new ballpark in 2009, they have dramatic new revenue sources," Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said Tuesday after giving the media and Boston city officials a tour of the new changes. "So we've got to do everything we can to make this little engine that could keep up with the bullet train in the Bronx."

A little lame... I would have gone with something like: "With the Yankees building that giant eye soar in New York, we wanted to make sure we kept it real here in Boston."