Prior to the 2003 season, balls that just made it over the left-field wall, better known to baseball fans as the Green Monster, fell into mesh netting that was stretched across the length of the wall. After new owners purchased the team in 2002, the team made plans to expand the seating capacity at Fenway Park, then the smallest amongst all major league ball parks. They soon recognized that fans would be willing to have the chance to literally sit on top of the Monster, and so the “Monster Seats” were born. Coming to the ball park for the first time that year, you would not have realized that they were a new feature, as the architects seamlessly integrated them into the friendly confines, and today they remain one of fan’s favorite spots to watch a game at Fenway Park.
Former Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez earned the distinction of sending the first ball into those seats and the ball was sent to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown by the fan lucky enough to “catch” a piece of history.