Green Monster

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The wall was part of the original ballpark construction of 1912, along Fenway's north side facing Lansdowne Street. It is made of wood and was covered in tin and concrete in 1934. It was then covered with hard plastic in 1976. A manual scoreboard is set into the wall, which has been there, in one form or another, at least as far back as 1914. The wall was not painted green until 1947; before that, it was covered with advertisements. The 'Green Monster' designation appeared in print by November 1956, although for much of its history it was simply called 'The Wall', an alternate nickname that has endured into the 21st century. The Green Monster is the highest among the walls in current Major League Baseball (MLB) fields, but it is not the second highest among all professional baseball fields, as several minor league parks have taller walls. In 2007, it was surpassed by 'The Arch Nemesis'—the left field wall of the independent baseball WellSpan Park in York, Pennsylvania—which is approximately 6 inches (15 cm) taller. During 2001 and 2002, the Green Monster's height record was temporarily surpassed by the center field wall at Riverfront Stadium (then known as Cinergy Field) in Cincinnati, where a 40-foot (12 m) black wall was erected as a temporary batter's eye, often called the 'Black Monster'. When Riverfront Stadium was demolished in 2002, the Green Monster reclaimed the record. In honor of the wall, the Red Sox' mascot is Wally the Green Monster. In May 2025, the Red Sox announced a new City Connect jersey which pays homage to the Green Monster, featuring a solid green color and lettering in the same font as the letters on the wall.

In Their Own Story

Wally's physical form has evolved significantly since his debut. In 2004, he received a more muscular redesign, and in 2013, a beard was added to match many Red Sox players of that era. In 2016, the team introduced Tessie, Wally's younger sister, named after the Royal Rooters' song 'Tessie.' That same year, on April 2, 2017, the club premiered 'Wally's Opening Day,' a 30-minute animated special celebrating his 20th anniversary. This marked the first television animation produced by an MLB club, with Linda Henry serving as executive producer. Beyond appearances, Wally has engaged in unique rivalries, such as driving over a doll of Tampa Bay Rays mascot Raymond with an ATV. He also starred in a 2007 ESPN SportsCenter commercial with David Ortiz and Jorge Posada, and in 2019 shared photos with Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez during the MLB London Series.

Reader's Guide

The wall is 37 feet 2 inches (11.33 m) tall. At 231 feet (70 m) wide, it has an overall surface area of 8,585.5 square feet (797.62 m²). The wall is signed as being 310 feet from home plate at the left-field foul line, although for many years, until May 1995, it was signed as being 315 feet. The posted distance in metric was not adjusted from 96 meters (315 ft) to 94.5 meters (310 ft) until 1998. The wall is signed as being 379 feet (116 m) deep near the ballpark's flagpole in center field, where a vertical yellow line denotes the rightmost limit of the wall that is in play. A portion of the wall continues behind the flagpole, but a ball hit to this area (striking the wall to the right of the yellow line) is considered a home run. By contrast, the right-field wall is less than 6 feet (1.8 m) tall. While it is signed as being only 302 feet (92 m) from home plate at the Pesky Pole along the right-field foul line, it sharply angles back and is signed as being 380 feet (120 m) deep at the right end of the bullpens. This makes the overall expanse of Fenway's right field significantly larger than left field. The Green Monster is famous for preventing home runs on many line drives that would clear the walls of other ballparks. A side effect of this is to increase the prevalence of doubles, since this is the most common result when the ball is hit off the wall (often referred to as a 'wallball double'). The major-league record for doubles in a season was set by Red Sox player Earl Webb, who hit 67 doubles in 1931, although only 33 of them were hit at Fenway. This record has rarely been challenged, and no player has hit 60 or more doubles in a season since 1936. Some left fielders, predominantly those with significant Fenway experience, have become adept at fielding caroms off the wall to throw runners out at second base or hold the batter to a single. Compared with other current major-league parks, the wall's placement creates a comparatively shallow left field, and many long fly balls that could be caught in a larger park rebound off the Green Monster for base hits. Kansas City Royals Hall of Famer George Brett, a third baseman who would occasionally fill in at left field when needed, has described playing left field at Fenway Park as one of his favorite moments from his entire career. While the wall turns many would-be line-drive homers into doubles, it also allow

Did You Know?

• From 1912 to 1933, a 10-foot-high (3.0 m) mound formed an incline in front of the Green Monster, extending from the left-field foul pole to the center field flag pole, known as 'Duffy's Cliff' after Boston's first star l
• The manual scoreboard forms the lower half of the Green Monster and is still updated by hand from behind the wall throughout the game; all scores, including National League scores, are updated from behind the wall.
• In the vertical white lines of the American League section of the scoreboard, Morse code representing the initials of former owners Thomas A. Yawkey and Jean R. Yawkey is visible.
• A ladder is attached to the Green Monster, extending from near the upper-left portion of the scoreboard, 13 feet (4.0 m) above ground, to the top of the wall; previously used to retrieve home run balls from netting, it c