Play ball! The Red Sox are back to Fenway today for their home opener against the St. Louis Cardinals. NESN coverage begins at noon; first pitch is 2:10pm. In case there is still any doubt, the rules changes from last year have been a huge success; the pace of play is so much improved.* The pitch clock is not even noticeable any more; everyone has figured it out and violations are rare. And before the new defensive shift limits were instituted everything was either a home run or an out, and the game had gotten very boring. There’s much more going on now.
Go here for Red Sox 2025 schedule.
The Sox got off to a slow start in Texas but they just took the series in Baltimore where the bats woke up and Rafael Devers finally got a hit. From NESN:
Devers finally recorded his first hit with a well-timed RBI double Wednesday night and added a single to break free from his slew of strikeouts. Bregman, Casas and Story all homered as well to get real production from the bats that will carry the Red Sox this season.
One really bright light is rookie second baseman Kristian Campbell who has just been signed to an eight-year contract for $60-million. He’s only 22-years-old but seems weirdly calm and collected.
Pregame ceremonies will honor pitcher Luis Tiant (El Tiante) who died last October. Get ready to hear the crowd, Looooooeeee. It may sound like boos but it is the opposite.
(This photo was taken at POP Emporium a few years ago. This exact merchandise may not longer be available, but they always have a fair amount of baseball stuff.)
*Last season Tanner Houck threw a complete-game shutout in 1 hour and 49 minutes! Just 94 pitches. In 2024, the average MLB game time was 2 hours and 36 minutes, the shortest since 1984, marking a significant reduction compared to previous years due to the implementation of the pitch clock.
Home opener first pitch, 2:10pm, Friday, April 4, on NESN
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Side note: Last year’s exhibition games in the Dominican Republic were insanely fun. For half of the Sox roster it was a homecoming. Add Pedro Martinez and Big Papi roaming around the stands, sipping their drinks and hugging friends and you have a party. Let’s do that again.