I find Major League Baseball's Opening Day celebrations better than just about any other. For one, the start of the baseball season marks the transition from winter to spring, so the sense of renewal is amplified. There's a reason "hope springs eternal" was written about baseball, or at least it should have been.
The Red Sox were already going to have an epic home opener this year, given this is the 20th anniversary of what Sports Illustrated called "The Most Amazing Season in History". But when the members of that team gathered at Fenway on Tuesday for the first home game of the 2024 season, they were also there to celebrate the life of one of their own, gone too soon.
We wrote about Tim Wakefield's untimely passing when it happened last year. Wake might not have been my favorite Sox player of all time, but he was on the short list. That affection was based as much on his character and humility as it was on his on-field exploits, but he did wind up third all-time on the Sox' pitching wins list, and he pitched more innings in a Boston uniform than any other pitcher.
And so it came to pass that the normal anticipation that accompanies opening day was mixed with sadness and appreciation when Brianna Wakefield, the 18 year-old daughter of Tim and Stacy (in an epic bit of shitty business, Wake's wife passed from cancer shortly after her husband), took the mound to throw the first pitch of the 2024 season to Jason Varitek.
@nesn Yesterday Tim and Stacy Wakefield’s daughter, Brianna, threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park surrounded by her father’s 2004 #RedSox ♬ original sound - NESN
Dry eyes? I assume there were a few at Fenway. But not in my house.
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8 comments:
Awesome shit, dude. How many of the gang reassembled? I saw Damon with his mop. Manny? papi? Tito?
papi and manny were there. saw timlin, arroyo, lowe, millar, for sure. tek, obvs. schilling, notably and for obvious reasons, was not in attendance.
augusta national looks like she’s prepared to eat today. as the kids say.
eldrick making a cut having to walk that course with no legs is pretty stout
Casey Martin agrees
So I was spoiled visiting my elder daughter last year in Barcelona. No need for Espanol there. But here in Seville, I find myself in a bar where nobody speaks a lick of Ingles. And it’s a stunted convo but amusing. Uno mas cerveza works just fine, but anything more is tough. Rosetta Stone, take me away.
''Donde esta el bano' comes in handy, particularly after cervezas.
una caña, por favor will get you a little beer that goes along with your tapas.
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