Royals’ Kyle Isbel hit a ball that got stuck in the scoreboard on Boston’s Green Monster
Nearly 90 years ago, a fire at Fenway Park required much of the Boston Red Sox’s home stadium to be reconstructed.
According to Cut 4, the huge left-field wall “was rebuilt in 1934 with a concrete base and a hand-operated scoreboard, both of which are still in use today.”
That wall is one of the few in sports to have its own nickname: the Green Monster.
And until Wednesday night, the Green Monster had never eaten a baseball.
That changed when Royals center fielder Kyle Isbel hit a flyball that landed inside one of the lights used to signify strikes in the count.
It happened in the second inning and it was wild.
“That’s a first for me,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “Especially here, a metal wall, you figure that ball is going to bounce back. ... It hurt us right there to at least have a chance.”
Red Sox left fielder Masataka Yoshida was baffled by the play as he looked in vain for the ball, which remained in the light fixture.
“I realized I missed catching the ball,” Yoshida said through a translator, per the Boston Globe. “After that I tried to find the ball, but there was nowhere else (it could be,) so that was a surprise.”
Bally Sports Kansas City broadcasters Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler said they’ve never seen that happen before at Fenway Park. Lefebvre added during the broadcast that the weird play also was a first for Red Sox broadcasters Sean McDonough and Joe Castiglione.
There was one downside for the Royals. Infielder Matt Duffy, who had been on first base, appeared to have a chance to score on the play. But it was ruled a ground-rule double for Isbel and Duffy went back to third.
Isbel and Duffy were left stranded when Maikel Garcia made an out to end the inning.
After the game, Royals left fielder MJ Melendez went out to survey the damage. He spoke to one of the guys that operate inside the Green Monster on the situation.
“He said that never happened before in all the years he has worked,” Melendez said. “I don’t know how long he’s worked here, but I’m assuming a long time.”
Melendez added that he didn’t see any glass on the warning track. The shattered glass just filled the inside of the light fixture near the light bulb.
“The lights seem pretty thick,” Melendez said. “I went and kinda of touched them. They felt like they wouldn’t be able to break. I’m assuming they made them so they didn’t break on stuff like that. I guess he just hit it right.”
The Royals fell 4-3 to the Red Sox on Wednesday night. Melendez hit two home runs in the loss.
This story was originally published August 9, 2023 at 7:06 PM.
