Editor’s note: Fenway Park opened on April 20, 1912. NESN.com will be celebrating Fenway’s 100-year anniversary with unique content from now until April 20, 2012.
The 1978 Red Sox season was famously derailed by what was dubbed the "Boston Massacre," a four-game sweep of the Sox by the hated Yankees. Twenty-eight years later, history repeated itself at Fenway Park, as the Yankees once again ruined a Boston season.
The Red Sox had high hopes for the 2006 season after acquiring Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell in the offseason. Terry Francona's bunch played good baseball for much of the year, but when the calendar hit August, things took a turn for the absolute worse.
Boston limped to a 9-21 record in August, a mark that was punctuated by a five-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees toward month's end. The Red Sox never recovered, and for the first time since 2002, they failed to reach the playoffs.
It wasn't all gloom and doom for the Red Sox, though. David Ortiz set a new single-season franchise record for home runs by blasting 54. Jonathan Papelbon assumed the closer role and did not disappoint. He racked up 35 saves in 41 chances while posting a microscopic 0.92 ERA.
Fenway Park played host to much more than baseball in 2006. The Dave Matthews Band took over the old ballpark for a pair of shows, while Picnic in the Park and Christmas at Fenway gave Red Sox fans to see the historic ballpark in a different light.
For more information on Fenway Park, visit Fenway Park 100.
