Red Sox

Why NESN broadcast Thursday’s Red Sox game from the Green Monster seats

The Green Monster has undergone many changes throughout the 111-year history of Fenway Park.

By Conor Ryan

June 1, 2023

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NESN’s Red Sox broadcasting crew took in Thursday’s game against the Reds in a very different locale from their usual perch in the press box.

Instead of the broadcast booth, Dave O’Brien, Tim Wakefield, and Kevin Youkilis called Thursday’s game from the seats atop the Green Monster.

The reason for the switch? It was a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Green Monster seats, which debuted during the 2003 season.

The Green Monster has undergone many changes throughout the 111-year history of Fenway Park.

After a fire destroyed most of the wall that wedged itself between the left-field seats and Lansdowne Street, a larger concrete-and-tin monolith took its place in 1934 — setting the foundation of the quirky bit of baseball architecture that has become synonymous with the Red Sox.

Once strewn with advertisements, the 37-foot wall was eventually painted green in 1947 to match the same color palette as the rest of the stadium. The outer shell of the wall was covered in hard plastic in 1976, giving it the look it maintains 47 years later.

The Green Monster underwent one of its more radical transformations during the 2002 offseason, with major renovations removing the netting on top of the wall and replacing it with close to 300 seats.

Now, if only they could bring back those Coke bottles once again….