Fenway’s Confines Are a Bit Too Cozy

Much is made of the 37-foot-high Green Monster in left field, but right field in Fenway Park is far more challenging to play, as Angel outfielder Tim Salmon is rediscovering in this series.

What seemed like a harmless, 300-foot fly ball off the bat of Manny Ramirez in the first inning Wednesday night almost turned into another disaster for Salmon, and another Ramirez fly ball in the fourth became quite an adventure.

With runners on first and second and one out in the first, Ramirez lifted a high drive that tailed toward the right-field foul pole, which is only 302 feet from home plate.

Salmon, contending with the wall in foul territory, which is about two feet beyond the line, the pole and the fans hanging over the fence, made the difficult catch, practically with his back toward home plate.

Ramirez hit a fly ball in almost the same location in the fourth inning Tuesday night, and Salmon couldn’t make the play. Though the ball glanced off his glove, Ramirez was awarded a double.

Salmon got turned around again in the fourth inning Wednesday night, almost overrunning Ramirez’s deeper drive to the corner before twisting back to make the catch with a beach ball at his feet.

“Right field here is the toughest to play in the league, no doubt,” said Salmon, who ran over a fan who had jumped onto the field trying to catch a fly ball during batting practice Tuesday. “There’s just so much out there that you don’t see in other parks.”

From the foul pole, the wall quickly juts out to 380 feet in straight-away right, so there is much more ground to cover. And if a right fielder misplays a low drive down the line, the curving wall can give the ball a pinball effect, whipping it all the way around the corner.

“If the ball gets past you in the corner, that’s a mess,” Salmon said. “Believe me, this place keeps you on your toes.”

Though he never used it as an excuse, Darin Erstad was suffering from intense lower-back spasms and a strained right knee ligament in late April and early May, when his batting average fell as low as .204.

Erstad rebounded in mid-May and June, lifting his average as high as .295 on June 20, and Manager Mike Scioscia moved him from the second spot in the order to third. But the center fielder hit .198 in July (20 for 101) and had one hit in four at-bats Wednesday night, maintaining his average at .264.

“Physically, I’m as good as I’m going to be,” said Erstad, who was dropped to the second spot in the order Saturday. “The knee still has its days, but it’s not a factor. I’ve developed some bad habits that I have to get out of.”

Scioscia said he has considered moving Erstad back to the leadoff spot, from where he hit .355 with 100 runs batted in last season, but likes shortstop David Eckstein at the top of the order.

TODAY

ANGELS’

PAT RAPP

(3-9, 4.62 ERA)

vs.

RED SOX’S

BRET SABERHAGEN

(1-0, 1.50 ERA)

Fenway Park, Boston, 4 p.m. PDT

TV--Ch. 9. Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

Update--Saberhagen, the veteran right-hander, was sidelined the first four months of the season while recovering from rotator-cuff surgery before returning Friday night, when he gave up one run on three hits in six innings to lead the Red Sox to a win over the White Sox. Rapp gave up four earned runs on 11 hits in 11 2/3 innings of his last two starts, both against Baltimore, and came away with two no-decisions.