Many of you who have been playing Fallout 4 have probably already encountered this glorious, glorious
baseball field. So with all that history packed into one location, let's get it started!
Most Fallout 4 players who haven't gone around ruthlessly murdering everybody
have already met Piper, the passionate
journalist who is known for stirring up trouble for the major powers in Diamond City. But
what you might not know is that her newspaper, Publick Occurrences, shares its name with
a very historic real world entity. Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick was
the name of the first multi-page newspaper ever published in the Americas. It began in
September of 1690 and ended in well...September of 1690. This is because it was shut down
by the British colonial rulers of the day, who considered it too dangerous to be published.
This, of course, parallels Fallout 4’s Publick Occurrences, which is considered a major nuisance
by the authorities of Diamond City, especially Mayor McDonough.This isn’t the only similarity
between the two papers though: the real Publick Occurrences was published in none other than
Boston, Massachusetts. If you’ve ever ventured through the streets
of Diamond City, you know that the entire city is founded on America’s National Pastime:
baseball. It is fitting then that Diamond City’s leader, Mayor McDonough, happens
to have the same last name as Will McDonough. A man who went from a talented baseball pitcher
in high school to a sports reporter for the Boston Globe in 1960. Will McDonough was a
lovable personality in the Boston sports world, covering all the major teams in the area.
This, of course, included his beloved Boston Red Sox.
That’s not the only connection that Diamond City has to the Sox though. The entire city
is built on the ruins of the Pre-War Fenway Park, the Red Sox’s home field. The residents
of the city often refer to it as “The Green Jewel” or “The Wall”. In fact, you’ll
find a Diamond City citizen named Abbott painting the green wall to honor it. This is a reference
to Fenway Park’s “Green Monster”, a wall known for killing promising hits faster
than you could kill a Radroach.
If you look atop what was once the press box and is now
the mayor’s office in Diamond City, you’ll see that the last time their team won a championship
was 1918. This is a reference to the Red Sox’s 86 year World Series drought that started
in 1918 and was finally broken in 2004. It looks like Diamond City’s team wasn’t
quite so lucky. If you’re looking to barter in Diamond City,
one of your best options is heading to the Swatter’s Shack, where you’ll trade with
Baseball enthusiast Moe Cronin. This name is probably not a coincidence, since “Moe
Cronin” is one letter away from “Joe Cronin”, a legendary shortstop and later general manager
who spent most of his life with the Red Sox. A seven time all-star, Cronin was a Boston
icon during, no surprise here, the 1950s. That’s not all though, if you head to the
back of Diamond City and look up, you’ll see a series of retired numbers on the wall,
including the number 4. This is also a reference to Joe Cronin, who wore the number 4 and had
it retired by the Boston Red Sox in reality as well.
Visitors to the Dugout Inn aren’t exactly going to be struck by its upscale atmosphere.
Surprisingly though, this futuristic dive may take its influence from a real-world Boston
bar. The Dugout is one of the oldest bars in Boston, legend has it that it served as
a speakeasy during the prohibition. And, of course, in keeping with the theme of Diamond
City, it is also famous for its close connection to the Boston Red Sox. Located near Fenway
Park, ‘40s Red Sox players like Ted Williams and Michael “Pinky” Higgins were known
to hang out at The Dugout after home games. Not every reference found in Diamond City
is about baseball and local Boston history though. Take the robot serving up food at
Power Noodles. When attempting to talk to him, the only response you’ll get is “Nani
ni shimasho ka”. In Japanese this means “What’ll you have?”. This is a reference
to the 1982 film Blade Runner, where Harrison Ford’s character is asked this question
and orders a bowl of noodles. Like Fallout 4, Blade Runner is set in a dystopian future
and deals with a plot about biorobotic androids called replicants.
Okay, let's get to the trivia section while we're at shall we?
Last week we told you that a Fallout 3 NPC Hannibal Hamlin was named after an American Vice Presedent.
And we asked you which president he served under. The answer was Abraham Lincoln.
This week we have another question for you:
According to the startup screen of the pipboy in Fallout 4, it has 64 kilobytes of RAM and 38,911 bytes free.
This is a reference to the specs of what ancient gaming machine?