Editing Green Monster (section)

==Features==
[[File:Holy Cross vs Boston College (Fenway Park 1916).jpg|thumb|right|upright=.8|The center-field end of the wall and Duffy's Cliff in 1916, during a [[college football]] game at Fenway]]
[[File:Green Monster at Fenway Park, 2013.JPG|thumb|right|upright=.8|View of the scoreboard from the left-field grandstands in 2013; an access door is open near the [[W. B. Mason]] advertisement]]
[[File:Score (10374133084).jpg|thumb|right|upright=.8|Partial view of the scoreboard in 2013, with TAY in [[Morse code]] visible in the rightmost white stripe]]
[[File:Fenway Park 1996.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.8|The scoreboard in 1996, with the ladder visible at its left edge]]
[[Image:Fenway Park05.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.8|Seats atop the wall in 2007]]
[[File:Fenway Park Green Monster 1998-19.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.8|The Green Monster in August 1998]]

===Duffy's Cliff===
From 1912 to 1933, a {{convert|10|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} mound formed an incline in front of the Green Monster,<ref name="Dickson">{{cite book|last1=Dickson|first1=Paul|title=The Dickson Baseball Dictionary|date=1989|publisher=Facts On File|location=New York, United States of America|isbn=0816017417|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dicksonbaseballd00dick/page/140 140]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dicksonbaseballd00dick/page/140}}</ref> extending from the left-field foul pole to the center field flag pole. This earthwork formed a "terrace", a common feature of ballparks of the day (where a dirt-surfaced [[warning track]] would normally be today), whose purpose was to make up the difference in grade between street level and field level, as with Cincinnati's [[Crosley Field]]. It also served to double as a seating area to handle overflow crowds, another common practice of that era.

As a result of the terrace, when overflow crowds were not seated atop it, a left fielder in Fenway Park had to play the territory running uphill. Boston's first star left fielder, [[Duffy Lewis]], mastered the skill so well that the area became known as "Duffy's Cliff".<ref name="Dickson" /> In contrast, rotund outfielder [[Bob Fothergill]], known by the indelicate nicknames of "Fats" or "Fatty", reportedly once chased a ball up the terrace, slipped and fell, and rolled downhill.

In 1934, Red Sox owner [[Tom Yawkey]] arranged to flatten the ground in left field so that Duffy's Cliff no longer existed, and it became part of the lore of Fenway Park.

===Scoreboard===
Long after the much-higher location manual scoreboard from ''c.''1914 existed (as seen in the 1914 photo), the placement of the modern "ground-level" manual scoreboard occurred in 1934. It forms the lower half of the Green Monster and is still updated by hand from behind the wall throughout the game. The American League scores are also updated from behind the wall.  The National League scores need to be updated from the front of the wall between innings.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.redsoxdiehard.com/fenway/unique.html| publisher = Red Sox die hard | title=What makes Fenway Fenway}}</ref>  There is also a board which shows the current [[American League East]] standings.  There are 127 slots in the wall and a team of three score keepers move around {{convert|2|lb|kg|1|spell=in|adj=on}}, {{convert|13|by|16|in|cm|adj=on}} plates to represent the score. Yellow numbers are used to represent in-inning scores and white numbers are used to represent final inning tallies. The numbers of the current pitchers weigh {{convert|3|lb|kg|spell=in}} and measure {{convert|16|by|16|in|cm}}.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4277444.html|title= Technology|work= Popular Mechanics|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090604215519/http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4277444.html|archive-date= 2009-06-04}}</ref>

[[Carlton Fisk]]'s "body English" when he hit his [[Walk off home run|game-winning home run]] in Game 6 of the [[1975 World Series]], "waving" the ball fair, was captured on a TV camera stationed in the scoreboard.

====Morse code====
In the vertical white lines of the American League section of the scoreboard, [[Morse code]] representing the initials of former owners [[Tom Yawkey|Thomas A. Yawkey]] and [[Jean R. Yawkey]] is visible.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nesn.com/2023/07/nine-things-you-might-not-know-about-fenway-park-history/ |title=Nine Things You Might Not Know About Fenway Park History |first=Jason |last=Ounpraseuth |website=[[NESN]] |date=July 8, 2023 |accessdate=May 16, 2025}}</ref> As shown in various photos of the wall, the patterns are {{morse|dash}}{{nbsp}}{{morse|dot|dash}}{{nbsp}}{{morse|dash|dot|dash|dash}} (TAY) and {{morse|dot|dash|dash|dash}}{{nbsp}}{{morse|dot|dash|dot}}{{nbsp}}{{morse|dash|dot|dash|dash}} (JRY), each of which runs from top to bottom in a white stripe.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2018/03/05/yawkey-way-red-sox-morse-code |title=Yawkey Way Might Go, But The Yawkey Morse Code On The Green Monster Will Stay |first=Ally |last=Jarmanning |website=[[WBUR-FM]] |date=March 5, 2018 |accessdate=May 16, 2025}}</ref>

===The ladder===
Comprising yet another quirk, a ladder is attached to the Green Monster, extending from near the upper-left portion of the scoreboard, {{convert|13|ft|m}} above ground, to the top of the wall. Previously, members of the grounds crew would use the ladder to retrieve home run balls from the netting hung above the wall. After the net was removed for the addition of the Monster seats, the ladder ceased to have any real function, yet it remains in place as a historic relic.

The placement of the ladder is noteworthy given the fact that it is in fair territory; it is the only such ladder in the major leagues. On various occasions, a batted ball has struck the ladder during game play, reportedly leading to an [[inside-the-park home run]] at least twice.<ref name=GlobeMagazine>{{cite web |url = http://graphics.boston.com/globe/magazine/4-11/featurestory2.shtml |work=The Boston Globe Magazine |via=[[Boston.com]] |title=The Wall |first=Dan |last=Shaughnessy |date=April 11, 1999 |access-date= 2008-07-18}}</ref>  During a 1950s game,{{when|date=May 2025}} Red Sox outfielders [[Ted Williams]] and [[Jimmy Piersall]] both tracked a fly ball in left center, but the ball struck the ladder and caromed into center field, giving batter [[Jim Lemon]] enough time to round the bases.<ref name=DanS/>{{efn|The earliest known account of Jim Lemon's purported inside-the-park home run from a batted ball that hit off of the ladder appeared in an October 1986 column by [[Dave Anderson (sportswriter)|Dave Anderson]] of ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1986/10/21/532486.html?pageNumber=29 |title=The Wall Ain't Funny |first=Dave |last=Anderson |authorlink=Dave Anderson (sportswriter) |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=29 |date=October 21, 1986 |accessdate=May 16, 2025 |via=[[Times Machine]]}}</ref> That account has subsequently been repeated, including by [[Peter Gammons]] in a 1995 article in ''[[The Boston Globe]]'',<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-the-place-is-the-thing/172597086/ |title=The place is the thing |first=Peter |last=Gammons |authorlink=Peter Gammons |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |page=76 |date=April 25, 1995 |accessdate=May 17, 2025 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> and in a 1999 book by ''Globe'' writer [[Dan Shaughnessy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/hittinglogs.php?p=lemonji01&y=1959 |title=Jim Lemon 1959 Hitting Logs |website=[[Baseball Almanac]] |accessdate=May 16, 2025}}</ref> However, specifics such as what season it occurred during or which team Lemon was playing for, along with any contemporary account of such an event, are currently lacking. Lemon is also absent from a list of batters who hit inside-the-park home runs at Fenway, dating back to 1949, that was published in the ''Globe'' in 1961,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-what-about-lenhardts-i/172596135/ |title=What About Lenhardt's Inside--Fenway Slam? |first=Harold |last=Kaese |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |page=37 |date=August 10, 1961 |accessdate=May 17, 2025 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> and the [[Associated Press]] later stated that Dick Stuart's inside-the-park home run at Fenway in 1963 was the first one ever hit to left field there.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-star-ledger-alvis-3-run-hrs-win-for/172629666/ |title=Alvis' 3-run HRs win for Indians |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |newspaper=[[The Star-Ledger]] |location=[[Newark, New Jersey]] |page=23 |date=August 20, 1963 |accessdate=May 18, 2025 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>}} On August 19, 1963, Red Sox first baseman [[Dick Stuart]], generally regarded as slow-footed, hit a high fly ball that ricocheted first off the ladder,{{efn|Contemporary newspaper reports did not indicate that the ball hit off the ladder, rather that it "skinned off the wall" or "struck a ledge on top of the scoreboard".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fitchburg-sentinel-stuarts-inside-job/172529198/ |title=Stuart's 'Inside' Job Tickles Sox Rooters |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |newspaper=[[Fitchburg Sentinel]] |location=[[Fitchburg, Massachusetts]] |page=8 |date=August 20, 1963 |accessdate=May 16, 2025 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-start-hits-2-sox-lose/172529399/ |title=Start Hits 2; Sox Lose, 8-3 |first=Hy |last=Hurwitz |website=[[The Boston Globe]] |page=31 |date=August 20, 1963 |accessdate=May 16, 2025 |via=newspaper.com}}</ref> That the ball hit the ladder appears to be per an account given by [[Carl Yastrzemski]], as reported by [[Dan Shaughnessy]] of ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' in an April 1986 article.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-the-wall-bangers/172630766/ |title=The Wall bangers ... |first=Dan |last=Shaughnessy |authorlink=Dan Shaughnessy |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |page=80 |date=April 4, 1986 |accessdate=May 18, 2025 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>}} and then off the head of Cleveland outfielder [[Vic Davalillo]], before rolling far enough away to allow Stuart to score.<ref name=DanS>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-to-many-the-quirks-wer/172528253/ |title=To many, the quirks were what made it work |first=Dan |last=Shaughnessy |authorlink=Dan Shaughnessy |website=[[The Boston Globe]] |page=C12 |date=May 16, 1999 |accessdate=May 16, 2025 |via=newspaper.com}}</ref>

A common myth that has perpetuated is that if a ball strikes the ladder and then bounces over the wall or out of play, the batter will be awarded a ground-rule triple. There is no such rule in the [[ground rules]] at Fenway, nor in any major-league ballpark.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nelson |first=Steve |date=2021-10-12 |title=How to Get a Ground-Rule Triple in Baseball |url=https://baseballtrainingworld.com/how-to-get-a-ground-rule-triple-in-baseball/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Baseball Training World |language=en-US}}</ref> Fenway's ground rules state: "Fair ball striking the ladder below top of left field wall and bounding out of park: Two Bases."<ref name=GR>{{cite web |url=https://www.mlb.com/redsox/ballpark/ground-rules |title=Fenway Park Ground Rules |website=MLB.com |accessdate=May 18, 2025}}</ref>

===Green Monster seating===
In 1936, the Red Sox installed a {{convert|23|ft|m|adj=on}} net above the Monster in order to protect the storefronts on adjoining Lansdowne Street from home run balls. The net remained until the 2002–03 offseason, when the team's new ownership constructed a new seating section atop the wall to accommodate 274 fans. Wildly popular, these "Monster seats" were part of a larger expansion plan for Fenway Park seating. The Red Sox later added a smaller seating section in 2005, dubbed the "[[Red Sox Nation|Nation]]'s Nest," located between the main seating section and the center field scoreboard.

===Advertisements===
After the wall was painted green in 1947, advertisements did not appear on the wall until the late 1990s when the [[1999 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1999 MLB All-Star Game]] at Fenway was being promoted. Various ads have appeared above the scoreboard since then, such as for [[the Jimmy Fund]], [[W. B. Mason]], [[Covidien]], and [[Foxwoods Resort Casino]]. Large [[Coca-Cola]] bottles, placed on the left light tower in 1997, were a target for power-hitters. These three-dimensional advertisements were taken down before the 2008 season, when an [[LED]] sign was built above the new left-field upper-deck seats. As a lead up to his 500th career home run, [[Manny Ramirez]]'s home run count was tallied on the bottom of the light tower. Ads beside the manual scoreboard were added when the scoreboard was expanded. Part of the overall view above the left-field wall is the [[Boston Citgo sign]], located outside of Fenway in [[Kenmore Square]].