BOSTON - The green wall in left field at Fenway Park is 37 feet, 2 inches tall. It is a fine wall, a beloved wall. Rheal Cormier, the former Phillies reliever, once went inside the wall and scribbled on its concrete. "Life is beautiful," he wrote in French.
But Maikel Franco does not like the Green Monster, not after a 4-3 Phillies loss that extended the unbearable weight carried by the worst team in baseball. He hit a ball at 110 mph that smacked the green padding, less than a foot from the top. It was a home run anywhere else.