Well, here we are. For sure, it's not exactly where we'd like to be -- residing as we are in the
cellar of the American League East with a 2-4 record -- but the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox (I never get tired of typing that) are back in the Fens. The outfield grass is green, the red, white, and blue bunting is hung, and the fast-talking sidewalk scalpers are refreshed from their winter rests. Terry Francona is out of the hospital and ready to rock. And the New York Yankees are in the visitor clubhouse. Today they'll see their hated enemies bestowed with gleaming, ruby-encrusted rings, and they'll watch the World Series banner hoisted in center field to snap smartly in the wind.
Could it get any better? Well, yeah. A win would be nice. Hopefully, the team that put up the second-best home record in all of baseball last season -- second only to the Yankees -- will find just the spark they need today to rattle of a string of victories at friendly Fenway. (The next three in a row would be especially nice.) The throngs waiting patiently by Gate C on Lansdowne Street today, hoping against hope to snag the hottest ticket in Boston sports history, seem utterly unconcerned about the team's woes of late. Not David Wells's two cringe-worthy outings so far, including surrendering three home runs in a row on Saturday. Not our bullpen, with its ugly ERAs of 9.00 (Keith Foulke), 13.50 (Matt Mantei), 16.20 (John Halama), 20.25 (Blaine Neal). Not Edgar Renteria's .167 batting average. Not the two maddening losses, one to the Yankees and one to the Blue Jays, where we rallied to tie the score in the ninth, only two blow it the next half-inning.
Nor should they be, really. As frustrating as our record is at the moment, the Sox have shown spark over the past six games and I'm optimistic that this eight-day home stand will help fan it into a flame. The pomp and circumstance of today's ceremonies, taking place beneath the shadow of a Green Monster that, thanks to Fenway's new field surface, is a foot and a half taller than it used to be, should be especially galvanizing. The last time we played baseball in this park it was in a World Series that we'd soon go on to win. If you're still having a hard time believing that, today will drive the point home. At 2:15, the World Series rings will be awarded. At 2:30, the World Series banner will be raised. At 2:45, the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox will be introduced. At 2:57, someone -- WEEI is reporting that it'll be Teddy Bruschi -- will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. At 3 o'clock, 92-year-old "Broadway" Charlie Wagner, the oldest surviving Red Sox player, will yell "play ball!" And at 3:05, Tim Wakefield, the team's longest-tenured member, will send a knuckleball fluttering toward Derek Jeter's paralyzed bat.
Then we will win.
Etc.In todays
Boston Globe, Chris Snow shows how
important this start, his 200th at Fenway, is for Tim Wakefield. There's also a grandiloquent
editorial, expressing satisfaction that "[o]pening day in Boston, 2005, feels like a regional personality transplant, so ingrained were the superstitions and hair shirts -- none of which fits now," but reminding us that "[t]here's work to be done, baseball to be played, and a different identity to be carried while walking tall. But not so tall as to be blinded by clouds, or to be afraid of falling."
The
struggling Boston Herald, meanwhile, went all-out with a 48-page Red Sox
supplement today, and is handing out free copies all around Fenway. My colleague Dan Kennedy reports that the Teamsters are also in the neighborhood, doing a little
handing out of their own.
Over at
Wall Ball Single, Jose Melendez offers his ever-astute "
Keys to the Game."
I'm ticketless today, but am about to head out to the red and blue maelstrom on Lansdowne Street and Brookline Avenue. Check back late this afternoon for post-game thoughts.