Fenway Freebies: The Red Sox Plan Two Bobblehead Nights

Photographs by Toan Trinh

Bobbleheads. They’re regularly given away to lure fans to ballparks in Kansas City and Tampa Bay, but not here in Boston. Sox fans go to Fenway for the baseball, not baubles…right? Apparently not. Despite their 2013 World Series triumph, the Sox figure that we may need a little prodding this year, which is why they’ve already scheduled two bobblehead nights. On April 7, fans will walk away with a little Big Papi, and on April 30, they’ll be clutching mini Dustin Pedroias.

Granted, as of late February, ticket sales were up 14 percent from last year, and the season-ticket renewal rate was up from 84.1 to 93.5 percent. But team COO Sam Kennedy admits that this year’s demand isn’t what the team saw after its 2004 and 2007 titles. Why the drop in interest? Kennedy has two theories: One is that the secondary market has made it easier to score tickets on the fly. But he also notes that over the past decade, Sox fans have become somewhat inured to success. It’s impossible, he says, to recapture the same fervor that came with 86 years of desperation.

Hence, bobbleheads. As for a return to the days when Fenway practically sold itself out, Kennedy is as superstitious as any ballplayer: “I hope not. Because I think that would mean a long drought in World Series championships.”