Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said yesterday that he was
"completely in the dark" and "as baffled as anyone" by
remarks made by Red Sox CEO John Harrington that the team
was considering a waterfront site in South Boston for a new
ballpark, according to Cassidy & Flint of the BOSTON GLOBE.
Menino: "I have no idea what they're doing. ... I have not
talked to the Red Sox about Southie." But Menino "refused
to rule out a ballpark in the South Boston waterfront area,"
and said the city viewed the current Fenway Park site as "a
developable site. There are a lot of possibilities out
there." South Boston City Councilor James Kelly referred to
the Patriots abandoned attempt to build a new facility in
South Boston, and said, "The people of South Boston are not
going to give up the sacrifice the Red Sox are asking them
to make." Red Sox VP/Administration John Buckley said that
while there is no formal proposal for any location yet, the
city-backed Fenway site "is not big enough. And, even if
the city could take more land by eminent domain, the Red Sox
don't have anywhere to play while the field is being
rebuilt" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/12).