Jonny Gomes and 'The Green Monster"

JONNY GOMES ~ PLAYS THE WALL

RED SOX : SPRING TRAINING 2014
March 13,2014.








c/o Michael Silverman
     The Boston Herald

FORT MYERS — Nothing distinguishes the field of play at Fenway Park (and JetBlue Park) more than the Green Monster.

No play is more exciting at Fenway Park than when the left fielder plays a ball off The Wall so quickly and cleanly that he is able to throw out the baserunner who thinks he can stretch a single into a double.

And no left fielder in recent Red Sox history turned that trick better than Jonny Gomes.

He did it so well last year that advance scouts have already delivered word to all teams visiting Fenway that unless they see Gomes trip and fall, trying to advance to second base is not advisable.

“Because of how I play it and how quick we’re able to do it now, I’m not throwing many guys out at second because I’m holding them at first. They don’t even have time to take two,” Gomes said yesterday. “It is a fun play but the ball’s in my hand and then it’s in (second baseman Dustin Pedroia’s) glove just as the guy’s at first base.

“There’s no more ‘bang-bang.’ We took ‘bang-bang’ out of it.”

How does he do it?

It’s not reaction. It’s a risk vs. reward strategy that’s comes from thousands of fungoes taken off The Wall in batting practice and the hundreds of chances over the many games Gomes played there with the A’s, Rays and, now, the Red Sox.

Well before the pitcher releases the ball and the hitter makes contact, Gomes has a vast database to call upon.

First, he accesses whether the pitcher is a lefty or a righty and whether the batter is a lefty or a righty.

Batters hook and slice a ball differently depending on what side they hit from and what hand the pitcher throws with. Anyone who’s played pool and understands the intricacies of applying English to the cue ball understands what Gomes is talking about.

“I’m 30 feet away from The Wall and instead of 310 feet from the hitter like in a normal ballpark, now I’m like 270 — if you’re talking about a big right-hander, that ball’s getting on you hot,” Gomes said. “When you talk about right-handed slice, left-handed slice and top-spin, that gets totally exposed at 270 feet.

“There’s a formula you have to figure out. That ball will kick to the right, to the left or that ball will fall down true. When you throw a ball off a wall, you think it will bounce right back to you. Not in baseball. That ball will bounce that way or that way.”

If the ball bounces off the ladder, all bets are off. Last year, one ball miraculously bounced through and back without touching a rung.

Another variable to consider are the dead spots. When the Red Sox added the Monster seats, they altered the guts of The Wall, and two concrete support pillars were placed flush against it. A ball bouncing off those “hot spots” will have a lot more velocity than elsewhere.

And one more factor to add to the equation.

“There’s really a formula to where you don’t have to be the best outfielder to play that wall good, you don’t have to be the most athletic, you have to know where the ball is going,” Gomes said.

He considers his style of playing the Green Monster as “extreme” because as often as possible he tries to catch the carom before the ball hits the ground. The time lost by waiting for the ball to bounce can be eliminated by a savvy left fielder prepared to be in the right spot to catch it in the air.

“I’m not talking like it’s going to change anyone’s outfield ability, but when you’re playing extreme and trying to catch the ball off The Wall without a hop, you have to know where the hot spots are,” Gomes said.

Sometimes catching the ball off The Wall is not enough.

“Say I get back there and I do catch it,” Gomes said. “It still has to be a slow enough runner. Majority of time it can hit and it can bounce and I can keep them (at) first, but when I’m taking it off The Wall, it’s got to be a guy I think is going to want to try to stretch out two. Or, if there’s a runner on first, hopefully I can keep him from running to third.”

Only in Fenway is a cutoff man — the shortstop or third baseman — unnecessary to help a left fielder making a throw from most spots from extreme left to left-center field. The Fenway Park left fielder is playing 40-50 feet closer to home plate than in any other ballpark, and when a ball is lofted in his direction, only a left fielder with experience at Fenway knows best if a clean catch is possible before even factoring how to play the bounce.

“I don’t think you can argue that outside of our fan base, it’s the No. 1 homefield advantage park in the game,” Gomes said.

Nobody takes advantage of that better than Gomes.