Play ball! See historic photos of Opening Day at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox connect us, just as they did generations before, and their annual renewal is as comfortable as a tradition can be. Diehards in the bleachers and bigwigs in the box seats pack the bunting-swaddled ballpark, nearly 38,000 strong. We chat on Jersey Street and in our seats about the popular holdovers and the new arrivals and, this year, the gifted kids just down I-90 in Worcester, the adage of “hope springs eternal” proving as clichéd and saccharine and truer than a classic Dwight Evans throw from the right-field corner.
Sometimes Opening Day at Fenway offers the first clues to special times the new season intends to deliver. Think Gentleman Jim Lonborg picking up the first of his 22 victories to commence the magical and transformative 1967 season. Or Luis Tiant spinning and twirling his way to victory over Hank Aaron and the Brewers in 1975. “Looo-ie, Looo-ie …”
Sometimes Opening Day provides a highlight that stands on its own. If I close my eyes, I can still see Mo Vaughn’s mighty walk-off grand slam to cap a furious comeback against the Mariners in 1998.
A view of Fenway Park on Opening Day in 1956, an 8-1 win over the Orioles before a crowd of 32,563. Ted Williams went 3 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI. (Associated Press)
Fans enjoy the game in the bleachers for the 1979 opener. (Janet Knott/Globe Staff)
The Red Sox won 7-1 behind Dennis Eckersley, who pitched seven shutout innings, allowing only two hits. (Tom Landers/Globe Staff)
Massachusetts Governor Edward J. King (left) and Bill McMurtrie (right), a friend of King's, look on as cancer patient Shane Mitus throws out the first ball in 1979. (Janet Knott/Globe Staff)
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And sometimes, it provides a memory when we all stand together. There may have not been a more emotional moment in Fenway’s history than the tribute to victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the first responders before the 2014 opener.
The most fulfilling Opening Days at Fenway come when there’s a champion from the previous October to celebrate and a banner to unfurl. We have done this four times this century — in 2019, 2014, 2008, and the most magical of all, 2005, when Bill Russell and Bobby Orr were among those throwing out first pitches, the Yankees had to watch the Red Sox celebrate their rivalry-altering 2004 victory from the opposing dugout, and joy and catharsis engulfed anyone who had ever cared about this team.
The story of the 2025 Red Sox is only beginning. But this much we do know: No team does Opening Day better. And through the seasons, decades, and generations, there’s no better backdrop than Fenway Park.
Fans line up outside of Fenway Park for bleacher tickets on Opening Day in 1980. (George Rizer/Globe Staff)
A fan goes to great lengths to pick up his dropped cigar at Fenway Park on Opening Day in 1991. (Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff)
The Red Sox gave Eva Senters of Braintree (left) plenty to cheer about in the 1971 opener as they defeated the Yankees, 3-1. (Ed Jenner/Globe Staff)
Red Sox pitcher Bruce Hurst jokes around with fans before the 1980 opener. (Frank O'Brien/Globe Staff)
In what turned out to be a banner year, the Fenway Park grounds crew puts the finishing touches ahead of the 1967 opener. (Ollie Noonan Jr./Globe Staff)
Tom Richer, 8, looks for players to sign his program on Opening Day in 1990. (Pam Berry/Globe Staff)
Hank Aaron of the Brewers (left) and the Red Sox' Tony Conigliaro were the designated hitters for their teams in the 1975 opener, (Frank O'Brien/Globe Staff)
Ted Williams had two hits and two RBI against Washington in the 1947 opener. Williams hit .343 that season with 32 home runs and 114 RBIs. (The Brearley Collection)
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Bobby Tingle, 12, of Cambridge climbed the screen to retrieve a ball that was caught on a wire in the 1972 opener. The Fenway Park staff didn't let him keep the ball. (Dan Goshtigian/Globe Staff)
Jim Rice slides feet first into home plate, injuring Indians catcher Ray Fosse on Opening Day in 1976. (Frank O'Brien/Globe Staff)
A crowd of 20,000 watched the Red Sox face the Yankees on Opening Day in 1937. (Boston Globe Photo Archive)
Robbin Ciccio (left), Maryanne Ryan, and Maura Finnegan huddle up in order to keep warm as they wait to buy tickets for the 1978 opener. (Dan Sheehan/Globe Staff)
A fan smokes a cigar during the 1967opener. (Jack Sheahan/Globe Staff)
Red Sox manager Don Zimmer (right) gets a few kicks in after being ejected by home plate umpire Marty Springstead in the 1980 opener at Fenway Park. (John Blanding/Globe Staff)
Lynn Driscoll, of Dedham, Mass., center, and two others watch on Opening Day in 1995, the first regular-season game for the Red Sox following a players strike that canceled the 1994 season. (John Tlumacki/Globe Staff)
Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski was in a good mood prior to the start of the 1972 season. (Jack O'Connell/Globe Staff)
Gertrude Lacey holds up a baseball she caught at the 1979 opener as her friend Evelyn Burns looks on. (Janet Knott/Globe Staff)
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Credits
- Photographers: Bill Greene, Janet Knott, Tom Landers, George Rizer, Stan Grossfeld, Ed Jenner, Frank O'Brien, Ollie Noonan Jr., Pam Berry, Frank O'Brien, Dan Sheehan, Jack Sheahan, John Blanding, John Tlumacki, Jack O'Connell
- Reporter: Chad Finn
- Photo editors: Colby Cotter, Leanne Burden, Kevin Martin
- Design and development: Daigo Fujiwara-Smith
- Visuals editor: Tim Rasmussen
- Copy editor: Gary Samek
- Quality assurance: Nalini Dokula
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