See the transformation from diamond to the gridiron for the Shamrock Series
— -- Historic Fenway Park, home of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox, is in the process of being converted into a football field for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Take a tour with ESPN Images through the metamorphosis from baseball to football field, and check out the final product when Boston College takes on No. 4 Notre Dame this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Grounds Crew gets a wave
On Saturday, Boston College and Notre Dame will play in the first football game at Fenway since the Boston Patriots hosted their final home game in the AFL against the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 1, 1968.
Topdressing sod
Even though this game is being played in Boston, it is officially a Notre Dame home game as part of its Shamrock Series, an annual game that Notre Dame hosts in venues across the country.
Rolls of sod
Expect a predominant Notre Dame crowd. BC only got the usual 5,000 tickets allotted to the visiting team.
More manicuring
Boston College used to play its home games at Fenway Park, first hosting two contests there in 1914. During the next 44 years, Boston College played 101 games at Fenway Park. But in 1956, then-Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey told Boston College officials they were no longer allowed to play football there because they did too much damage to the field.
Time to water
BC officials considered dropping football, but a group of alumni got together and raised $350,000 to build a new on-campus stadium. To achieve this, BC filled a municipal reservoir just enough to build Alumni Stadium between Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue.
Crane work
Though it has been 50 years since Fenway Park has hosted a football game, transforming a baseball field is not entirely new. Yankee Stadium hosts the New Era Pinstripe Bowl every year. AT&T Park in San Francisco hosted a bowl game between 2002-13, and the California Bears used it as a temporary home in 2011 while its own stadium was being renovated.
Net posts get installed
Wrigley Field hosted a game between Northwestern and Illinois in 2010, but there were logistical issues there. Because of the tight configuration of the field, only one end zone was used.
Watch for foul balls...?
There is enough room at Fenway for both end zones, but not for opposite sidelines. Both BC and Notre Dame will have to stand on the same side of the field -- it's the same configuration AT&T Park used.
Foundation is in
A company out of Wrentham, Massachusetts, called Sports Turf Specialties, laid "thick-cut, sand-based sod" over the infield dirt, according to their Facebook page.
Edge dressing
Tuckahoe Turf Farms provided the sod to cover the infield and areas around the dugouts and warning track.
Readjustment needed
The goal posts were installed fairly early in the transformation process but had to be readjusted several times during the process.
Edge-to-edge
How will the teams enter the field since there are no tunnels? Boston College is scheduled to come in through the left field wall.
Baseball diamond no more
Notre Dame plans to enter through the first base dugout and then gather behind home plate before running onto the field.
End zone gets painted
Notre Dame and Boston College have a long history. They first competed in 1975 in Foxboro, Massachusetts, and have played 22 times since. The Irish lead the series 13-9. The winner of the matchup takes home bragging rights and the Ireland Trophy.
Green Monster window
Fenway also wants to take advantage of its iconic Green Monster, turning it not only into a scoreboard for the game, but also using it as an out-of-town scoreboard. There also are some logistical issues that relate more to football games than baseball games.
Ready for the Shamrock Series
Previous Shamrock Series games have been held at Yankee Stadium in New York (2010), FedExField in Washington, D.C. (2011), Soldier Field in Chicago (2012), AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (2013) and Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (2014).
Home-field advantage 900 miles away
"We have such a strong following in the Boston area, and we love to be able to take these games into iconic venues, and there isn't a better place than to bring it to Fenway Park and bring it to a very strong fan base that we have in the New England area," said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly. "That's really the allure and the draw for us in coming out East."