Editing Green Monster (section)

===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>