BOSTON -- The century-old home of the Boston Red Sox is being listed on the National Register of Historic Places to help ensure decades of new thrills.

Fenway Park has seen heart-stopping wins and crushing defeats and hosted baseball greats Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski.

The register listing means changes to Fenway are subject to review by the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

The Red Sox say they sought the designation and are pleased the ballpark "will be counted among America's most treasured historical places."

Fenway was built during the Golden Age of Ballparks. Its first official game was played April 20, 1912. It's the nation's oldest operating major-league baseball stadium.

It hasn't always been so revered. In the 1960s, it faced possible demolition. In the 1990s, there were plans for a new park on the South Boston waterfront.