Red Sox fans turn out for Fenway celebration

BOSTON – The Red Sox may win or they may lose, but at 100 years young, beloved Fenway Park continues to win over fans as the team’s most valuable player.

Loyal citizens of Red Sox Nation returned to the oldest major league ballpark on Friday to celebrate a gorgeously sunny opening day game against Tampa Bay and the start of Fenway’s 101st season.

“It’s like going to church every day,” retired knuckleballer Tim Wakefield said of his days at Fenway. “The stadium is the star here. Fenway is the star.”

While formal birthday festivities are slated for next week, several Red Sox legends were on hand to start a season-long celebration. Wakefield and retired catcher Jason Varitek threw out dual opening pitches to former Red Sox greats Dwight Evans and Jim Rice. The fans roared when former coach and player Johnny Pesky, 92, walked out on the field.

Fenway, though, has always belonged to the fans. Sal D’Amico remembers coming to games here as a little boy. On Friday, the 42-year-old brought his 6-year-old son Sal Jr. for what would be his first Red Sox game. D’Amico has seen other parks. Been to Wrigley Field in Chicago. It’s Fenway that’s home.

“It’s just a magical place,” he said. “There’s something about it, about the tradition, about how there’s not a bad seat in the house.”

The Red Sox conjured a little of that magic Friday, beating the Rays 12-2 after a tough 1-5 start to the season.

If new manager Bobby Valentine felt any pressure before his first opening day game at Fenway, he wasn’t letting on. Speaking to reporters before the game, he held out his hand to show it wasn’t shaking.

“Woke up excited,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a special day.”

Any day in Fenway qualifies as special, according to Colleen Myers, who brought her mother Susan to the game. Myers doesn’t remember her first Fenway game – she was 3. But she still has the ticket stub. She now attends about 20 games a year.

Fenway’s formal birthday party is timed for the 100th anniversary of the team’s first Fenway game, an April 20, 1912, extra-innings victory over the New York Highlanders, later renamed the Yankees. Boston Mayor John Fitzgerald – John F. Kennedy’s grandfather – threw out the first pitch.