Meet the Capital Region Native at the Center of Boston Sports’ Biggest Myth

In 1946, Albany native Joe Boucher was sitting in the outfield bleachers at Fenway Park in Boston, MA.

Specifically, Boucher was sitting 502 feet from home plate in Row 37, Seat 21, according to Fenway Fanatics. Some sources claim that Boucher was sleeping at the time, but others have not confirmed this detail.

Whether Boucher was awake or not is irrelevant because, as the story goes, the Capital Region native would soon become the centerpiece of one of Boston sports’ biggest myths.

He was sitting in what is now known as The Red Seat.

According to Fenway Park lore, all-time great slugger Ted Williams hit a ball of of pitcher Fred Hutchinson that landed, on the fly, where Boucher was sitting. Boucher was wearing a straw hat, and apparently, the ball put a hole in Boucher’s hat.

At the time, it was nothing more than a monstrous home run, one that seemed to travel one million miles through the air. That’s where the story ended…or, so we thought.

READ MORE: The Ten Most Infamous New York Sports Rivalries That Fans Love to Hate

The second half of this story happened in 2002, when Ted Williams passed away. As noted by Fenway Fanatics, the Red Sox honored Williams in many ways after his passing, one of which being the creation of The Red Seat.

That seat, which was allegedly sat in by Boucher when Williams hit his mammoth home run, was officially made off-limits. From that moment on, fans could no longer purchase a ticket to sit in it.

Is the legend of The Red Seat, and of Joe Boucher, real? Nobody is entirely sure. Heck, even current-day Red Sox players like Triston Casas have voiced their uncertainty about the seat, and specifically, the alleged 502-foot distance from home plate.

For the time being, however, no one has definitively disproved the story, and Albany’s Joe Boucher remains at the center of Fenway Park history.

Sorry…alleged history.