The Green Monster at Fenway Park has produced plenty of funky plays over its more than 110 years of history, but one particularly strange play Wednesday night might have been a first.
In the second inning, Royals center fielder Kyle Isbel drilled a line drive to left field, over the head of Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida. Instead of bouncing off of the Green Monster, the ball smashed through one of the built-in lights in the wall used for counting outs. Yoshida was baffled as he looked to retrieve the ball off the wall before eventually spotting it inside the light. The ball going out of play meant it was scored as a ground-rule double, sending Matt Duffy back to third after he had crossed home plate amidst the hunt for the ball. Maikel Garcia flied out on the next at-bat to strand Duffy and end the inning.
Here’s a look at the mind-bending play.
The Baseball getting Stuck in the Light at Fenway.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 9, 2023
Just when you think you've seen it all... 🤣 pic.twitter.com/Dxh8imRwpx
While it’s hard to know for sure whether Duffy would have scored had the ball bounced normally off the wall, the play had a significant impact on the game. The Red Sox wound up winning 4–3, so one run could have made all the difference.
Boston manager Alex Cora joked postgame that it was nice for something to finally go the struggling Red Sox’ way.
“I’ve never seen that. Not even in BP,” Cora said, per NESN. “We go over the rules and they always talk about if the ball gets stuck in the Monster. And I’m like, ‘That’s not going to happen.’ But it did.”
It was a reminder of the lovable quirks of Fenway, which is somehow still finding ways to surprise fans.
Fenway has been hosting baseball games since the week the Titanic sank, and I'm gonna guess no one has seen this in 111 years - before tonight. https://t.co/ynm4Pppodx
— Brian Murphy (@Spokes_Murphy) August 9, 2023
Baseball is the only sport where a completely brand new event happens at least once a week. https://t.co/u7TF3zUEZY
— Kyle Huesmann (@HuesmannKyle) August 10, 2023
Fenway is the best man. Such a ridiculous place https://t.co/bskC7Zx7Qp
— Tyler Rowe (@rowet26) August 10, 2023
