Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 662 - 17: The Green Monster

Fenway Park, the oldest and most historic stadium in the entire Major League Baseball existing in the United States—since it became the home of the Boston Red Sox in 1912, this "jewel box" with a maximum capacity of 47,000 has witnessed the Red Sox crowned 8 times.

Especially after breaking the "Curse of the Holy Infant" and reclaiming the World Series championship after 86 years, the Boston Red Sox, freed from mental blocks, seemed to have flipped a switch, subsequently clinching championships again in 2007 and 2013;

Although after the end of last season, the team's icon David Ortiz announced his retirement, the current roster of the Red Sox still boasts strong competitiveness and is undoubtedly a championship-level team—as opposed to the distant 2009 of the New York Yankees, who had their last World Series experience; they seemingly have more of the so-called "championship presence."

And this is why Boston fans are so concerned about Lin Guanglai ditching the Red Sox for the Yankees:

In the eyes of Red Sox fans, in terms of power, our Red Sox have top-tier stars in the league, incredibly balanced on offense and defense, and the age structure of the team is very scientific, making them a championship favorite for years;

In terms of status, with the glorious retirement of "Big Papi," the designated hitter position is hung high, this position is almost tailor-made for Lin Guanglai, and the Red Sox, from top to bottom, support Lin Guanglai's Dual Swordsmanship plan; as long as he comes, he can immediately become an important core of the team;

In terms of money and prospects, although the signing bonus the Red Sox offer might not be the highest, it already ranks among the top, not to mention that Boston itself is one of the most elite cities in the United States and among the largest sports markets— in the view of Red Sox fans, being favored by the Red Sox, Lin Guanglai should feel honored and sign right away. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

But who would have thought that this young player, relatively unknown in North America, would actually reject the Red Sox's offer! If he went to some small-market team, Red Sox fans could mock him with "not daring to accept the big city challenge"; but among the remaining 29 teams, Lin Guanglai chose their most hated New York Yankees, which is simply intolerable!

Due to these various factors, even though Lin Guanglai had not yet thrown a pitch in the Major League, he has already become an object of disdain for many Red Sox fans.

The Yankees are annoying, and Lin Guanglai, who rejected the Red Sox, is ignorant, and these identities combined have turned into the deafening boos at Fenway Park today—when Lin Guanglai and other New York Yankees players walked into Fenway Park's interior, they were met with the menacing faces from the stands.

Red Sox fans in the stands held various banners high, most of which contained insults toward the Yankees, including but not limited to "Fuck the Yankees" "2004" "Get out of here, New Yorkers," and other emotionally charged phrases, each banner piercing straight into the Yankees' lung, completely disregarding any possible negative effects.

In the city of Boston, hating the Yankees is outright "politically correct"; and such a stance even the fiercest Nippon Professional Baseball "Giants VS Hanshin" rivalry cannot match.

Aside from the noisy Red Sox fans in the stands, upon entering Fenway Park for the first time, Lin Guanglai's gaze was immediately drawn to the stadium's iconic home run wall—yes, this was Lin Guanglai's first time at Fenway Park, and his first time witnessing the left field wall known as the "Green Monster" himself.

Due to the design issues of the stadium, the distance from the left-field foul pole to home plate at Fenway Park is just over 94 meters, a distance that Major League Baseball's right-handed heavy hitters can easily send the ball into the stands once they hit the sweet spot.

Thus, out of both competitive and commercial considerations, the Red Sox's team owner decided to erect a high wall in left field and later painted it green to match the rest of the ballpark, thus the "Green Monster" nickname was born and passed down to this day.

This home run wall stands 11.3 meters high, making it the highest among the 30 stadiums in Major League Baseball; and its existence adds many uncertainties to Red Sox baseball games and has created many historic moments.

For instance, many line drives that would be home runs in other stadiums would become infield hits at Fenway Park; and those high-flying balls that could be easily caught in other stadiums are often turned into home runs, or have a high chance of being turned into doubles or more due to the blocking of the Green Monster—thus, for pull-hitting right-handed power hitters, Fenway Park is simply their paradise.

Because of the existence of this high wall, there is a saying in the Major League: "If you have the skills, you must go to Fenway Park to challenge the Green Monster—and if you succeed, even just once, people will respectfully call you a power hitter!"

The pre-game warm-up session quickly ended, and as the game was about to start soon, Lin Guanglai returned to the player area from the field.

As soon as he walked into the player area, he saw Luis Severino, today's starting pitcher, sitting there alone, looking around at the four-sided stands of Fenway Park, his body trembling slightly.