Quote:
Originally Posted by silvam14
How long was that electronic piece there? Couldn't have been too long
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They put the digital part of the scoreboard in sometime between 62-63, then removed it after the '75 world series when Fred Lynn smashed his face into the wall. At that time, it was made of concrete, covered with tin squares and rivets.
They rebuilt the wall prior to the '76 season with aluminum, along with soft padding at the base. They shortened the scoreboard and ditched said digital portion. That's also when it appears - to my eye anyway - the ballpark was painted the familiar "Fenway Green" we all know today. (before that, it was the darker khaki green we see in the pic)
The whole idea for doing that was to keep the players from injuring themselves. The aluminum with padded was more forgiving on your body (or in this case, Fred Lynn. It still didn't stop Yaz still cracking a rib after colliding with scoreboard in '82 - the only part that was NOT covered in padding). This idea was tossed to the wayside by greedy Lucchino, Werner and Henry in order to ring more dollars out the park with adverts in place of the padding.
(I still love Sox. I just absolutely hate what they have become. Actually, just hate that the ownership has turned Fenway and the franchise into a "feel-good circus show". God forbid Spineless Henry and Hollywood Tom grow a pair and fire the stupid manager. But this is another discussion for different forum
)