I meant to write about this last week, when Fenway Park had it's largest post-World War II crowd against the Padres. The media reported it by saying "it may be hard to believe, but...," and fans everywhere were baffled--in all those years, why was this game the one with the biggest attendance?

But what people seem to be missing is how Fenway's capacity has been growing. Therefore, with each new addition of seats, there's going to be a new record. Look at news articles from April 2007 after seats were added, or April 2008 after seats were added, or lots of other recent seasons, and you'll see that same stat: largest post-WWII crowd. Why that Padres game had the most since the most recent addition, I don't know, but the point is, it didn't have too much competition so it's not amazing at all.

(And the reason they say "post-WWII" is because before that (or at least through 1936) they let fans stand in the outfield--once that practice stopped, and when fire laws got more strict, the total possible number of people jammed into the park obviously went way down.)