When the Red Sox played their first game ever at Fenway Park on April 20, 1912, they couldn't have known that the ballpark or their opponent would eventually hold such history. But with that first victory over New York, Fenway Park had enough action in store to set the stage for an entire century's worth of drama to come.
Tris Speaker singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning, christening the ballpark with the Red Sox' first-ever win at Fenway Park, 7-6.
New York had taken a 5-1 lead after three innings, but the Red Sox clawed their way back to tie it in the sixth. The Highlanders took the lead in top of the eighth inning, but the Sox answered with a run of their own to tie things up and set the stage for Speaker's walk-off winner.
A newspaper report from the time notes that the crowd at the game spilled onto the field and worked to the home team's disadvantage. The Red Sox had to settle for many ground-rule doubles instead of "three-base drives and possibly home runs" that "would have landed the home team a winner before the ninth inning."
Luckily, the Sox overcame the crowd's over-enthusiasm and emerged victorious. Check out the official box score from the game below.
