While the Japanese have Godzilla, Boston is home to its own “Green Monster,” predating even the release of the original black and white film. Standing 37 ft. and 2 inches high, the sky-reaching façade has stood guard to Landsdowne St. since Fenway Park was originally constructed in 1912. The left field shadow of the Green Monster has been home to some of the game’s most decorated players including Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice, not to mention modern day big league all-stars Manny Ramirez, Jason Bay and Jacoby Ellsbury.
Since the retirement of Tiger Stadium (Detroit, MI) in 1999, Fenway Park has been reigning as the single oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. Now one of only two remaining classic parks, the other being Wrigley Field in Chicago, the old structure is both plagued and graced by (depending on your seat location) engineering oddities one would only find in an outdated venue, such as obstructed view seating behind pillars and support rails. While the Green Monster might be its most famous feature, the home of the Red Sox is filled quirky anecdotes canonized in baseball legend and has served as the backdrop for some of the sport’s most iconic moments. The “triangle,” located in right-centerfield, takes long fly balls on a 420 foot journey before they clear the warning track, one of the deepest points in any baseball park. Down the right field line sits “Pesky’s pole,” the foul pole that represents the shortest right field porch in Major League Baseball, a mere 302 feet from home plate. The pole takes its name from former Red Sox player Johnny Pesky, a bloop-hitting second baseman who benefitted from the easy to reach fence in right in one of his rare game winning home runs. The other foul pole takes its name from Carlton Fisk, still seen in classic replays of Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, animatedly willing his long ball to stay fair down the left field line.
The 2012 season will mark the Red Sox 100th year in the friendly confines of Fenway Park, and with no relocation plan in sight, fans and tourists alike should continue to enjoy one of baseball’s most historic landmarks for years to come.