Red Sox Notes: Alex Cora, Jason Varitek Praise ‘Beautiful’ Pregame Ceremony

BOSTON — The Red Sox honored the life and legacy of Tim and Stacy Wakefield, Larry Lucchino and others before Boston’s season-opener at Fenway Park on Tuesday afternoon. It transitioned seamlessly to a celebration of the 2004 World Series championship team, a ballclub Wakefield played a pivotal role in leading.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora and game-plan coordinator Jason Varitek, Wakefield’s longtime catcher and close friend, reflected on the pregame ceremony after Boston’s eventual 7-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

“The emotions on the field probably dictate everything,” Varitek said in the Red Sox clubhouse. “It was a beautiful moment from our fans and for their family.”

Varitek said he got emotional as soon as the ceremony started with a moment of silence for Tim and Stacy Wakefield, Lucchino and other Red Sox legends. Varitek then met Trevor and Brianna Wakefield, the son and daughter of Tim and Stacy, on the field before he caught the first pitch from Brianna. Wakefield’s title-winning teammates walked onto the field behind the Wakefield children and stood behind Brianna as she threw the first pitch.

“You can’t celebrate ’04 without celebrating Tim also,” Varitek said. “It was just a beautiful day. I can’t really put it into words. It was a beautiful day. They did a great job. I don’t want to overshadow the Jimy Williams, (Larry) Lucchino, everybody else who has passed. It means a tremendous amount to all of us. Today was a special day.”

Cora echoed much of the same.

He, too, got emotional when he saw the Wakefield children walk out of the Green Monster and onto the field.

“Unreal,” Cora said. “To see the kids come in with everybody around them just tells you who Wake was, and Stacy. That’s where my mind went.

“Very emotional. They do it the best here. I think whoever was part of that and saw it, they’re the best in the business. I give it an A-plus. That’s all I can say.”

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Here are more notes from Red Sox-Orioles:

— Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the pregame festivities followed some brutal injury-related news for the ballclub.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow on Tuesday morning confirmed shortstop Trevor Story will undergo surgery on his shoulder. Story suffered a fracture of the glenoid rim during Boston’s eighth game of the season. After evaluating his options, Story made the decision to have surgery in Los Angeles on Friday. It comes with a recovery time “in the neighborhood” of six months, Breslow said, which would mark a mid-October return.

Story fought through tears while speaking with reporters after the game.

— Boston also placed right-handed starter Nick Pivetta on the 15-day injured list. Pivetta felt like it was taking him longer to recover between starts and imaging confirmed a right elbow flexor strain. During said imaging, his UCL was in tact, Breslow said.

“That’s what we’ll treat and feel pretty confident in that diagnosis,” Breslow said.

Pivetta returning at the end of the 15-day IL stint is a “reasonable goal,” per Breslow.

— With Story’s long-term absence confirmed, Breslow said the Red Sox are “committed” to give their internal options a chance at the middle infield spots. Cora shared that the current plan is for David Hamilton to play shortstop against right-handed pitchers and Romy González, who was called up Tuesday, will play the position against left-handers.

“I think it makes sense to kind of let this play out a bit and we’ll continue to evaluate,” Breslow said.

— Tyler O’Neil hit his sixth home run of the season Tuesday. He now has six home runs in 10 games played.

— The Red Sox host the Orioles in the second game of their three-game set Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch it on NESN after an hour of pregame coverage.

Pivetta, who started the season second in the rotation, will not take the mound. Instead, Kutter Crawford will toe the rubber and Boston, which benefited from a day off Monday, will address Pivetta’s rotation spot Saturday.