There was a time, not so long ago, humans from all walks of life were able to congregate and watch some other humans throw around a baseball for a few years. Those were simpler times.
We’re all doing our part to get by without sports as we try to do our part in winning the worldwide battle with the coronavirus. But some days are a little more difficult than others. Thursday, which was supposed to mark the Boston Red Sox’s 2020 home opener, is one of those more difficult days for New England sports fans.
For now, all we can do is sit and wait and hope for the triumphant return of baseball and the rest of the sports we hold so dearly to our hearts. And while we wait, we’re able to look back and reminisce about the good old days when we could go outside and celebrate sports with complete strangers.
The Red Sox have had plenty of unforgettable Opening Day moments at Fenway Park. An unprecedented run of success has made for a whole bunch of great moments in recent Sox history, making it almost easy to forget that World Series titles weren’t a yearly expectation.
Sure, there was some reason for optimism as the 1998 season began. While Boston was coming off a 78-win season in ’97, the team’s success (or lack thereof) took a backseat to the play of Nomar Garciaparra, who thrilled the hometown crowd on the way to winning Rookie of the Year. Then, that offseason, the Red Sox made one of the best trades in baseball history, acquiring Pedro Martinez from the Montreal Expos.
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But after a 3-5 start to the season, the ’98 Sox limped home for the opener. On a sun-soaked Friday afternoon, Boston took the field with the unenviable task of trying to solve Cy Young Award runner-up Randy Johnson.
On a chilly April day with the wind blowing in from center field, Johnson dominated. The Big Unit struck out 15 over eight innings and left with a 5-2 lead. Seattle scored two in the top of the ninth and led by five as it went to the bottom of the ninth.
That’s when a disappointing loss turned into an unforgettable game and one of the most underrated moments in Red Sox history.
Boston fought back to get close, and eventually, first baseman Mo Vaughn came to the plate with the Red Sox down by two and the bases loaded.
This happened:
“One of the strangest games I think you’ll ever see,” NESN analyst Jerry Remy exclaimed as the Red Sox celebrated at home plate.
The walk-off grand slam excited the Red Sox fans, at least the ones who stayed until the end.
“I hope a lot of people enjoyed listening to it on the radio on their way home,” Sox manager Jimy Williams said after the game.
Red Sox pitcher Rich “El Guapo” Garces summed up the afternoon better than anyone else.
“It felt like the World Series,” he said.
At that point in Red Sox history, it might as well have been.
