Opening Day 2005

Of all of the baseball-related things I've had the pleasure of experiencing first-hand over the years, the 2005 Opening Day Ceremonies at Fenway Park had to be one of the best...right up there with the 99 All-Star Game fanfare (with the last appearance of Ted Williams at Fenway and some mammoth Mark McGuire homers) and games 4 and 5 of last year's ALCS against the New York Chokers, er, Yankers. These guys really know how to do it here, and what we saw there truly lived up to at least my expectations.

Some had to complain, however, as has become the nature of the Boston Sports fan...more specifically the Boston Sports Radio personalities. Granted, the song written by Terry Cashman, "Teddy Ballgame", wasn't exactly the catchiest tune on the planet, but I think most nay-sayers simply missed the point here. Stop complaining...the Sox won the series.

I knew the Red Sox would pull out all the stops for this one. What a treat it was to see the banner raised, Boston sports all-time guys like Orr and Russell throw out the first pitches, and of course the distribution of the rings, particularly the one that went to Johnny Pesky. Standing ovation, no question. Tear in the eye, no doubt.

Other highlights worth mentioning: the uproarious applause and sarcastic standing ovation given to Mariano Rivera upon his introduction. He was cool about it, grinning ear to ear, and even gave a wave to the crowd...Joe Torre also got a loud ovation, though I got the sense it was much more on the genuine side, which was nice. Things are different around here now as far as the hatred of the Yankees is concerened; they have been defeated, in a major way, and it seems as though the fans are now actually allowing for a bit of respect to be shown to at least one of our most hated rivals. The comical highlight of the day came when, during a moment of silence for the recently deceased Dick Raditz, a fan on left field VERY clearly shouted "A-Rod, you SUCK!", a comment heard by apparently 90% of the people there and that led to a round of chuckles and gaffaws.

Oh, then the Sox beat the Yankess...always a great way to start the home season...