padded outfield walls

[jLev]

Anybody have info on which ballpark(s) first put padding on the outfield walls?

Is Wrigley the only current park that doesn't have padded outfield walls.

Any guidance is much appreciated...

[wamby]

I believe it was Ebbets Field in 1948. The media had a lot of fun with the idea.

[Elvis]

All the sources I've read say it was Forbes Field that first added "crash pads" to parts of their outfield brick wall in the 1940s.

[vptpt]

Wanna know what I love?

I love it when, on tv, they show the outfielders standing around, and behind them you can see all the patched up spots on the padding where guys have climbed the wall to steal a homerun. They're like battle scars.

That's what I love.

[cong]

An interesting (to me) side note about padding. My father took my brother and I to the last game in the Old Yankee Stadium. When the game was over, the fans ripped up the park. We took some outfield sod (replanted it in our back yard and it may still be there today) and we also got some right field wall padding..... Years later it just disintigrated into nothingness.... but we thought it was cool in 73