For Red Sox fans everywhere, Monday, April 11 was a very important day: it was the home opener at Fenway Park! Even though the official opening day was April 4^th in Cleveland against the Indians, the home opener is an important day for all home-team fans.

For some, this was a bittersweet game to see. It was Big Papi, David Ortiz’ final home opener as a Red Sox. As a surprise to him, his 15-year-old daughter, Alex, sang the national anthem before the game. In an interview on RedSox.com, Ortiz said, “it was a surprise, a beautiful surprise…you start thinking about your kids and they way you raise your kids and everything that you’ve been through. I got caught into those memories, and it was beautiful.”

It was a beautiful ceremony, with a montage of Ortiz’s career highlights playing on the scoreboard to the song “Imagine” by John Lennon. Ortiz threw the first pitch with former Boston greats Bill Russell of the Celtics, Bobby Orr of the Bruins, and Ty Law, who won three Super Bowls with the Patriots. It was very fitting that long-time teammate Dustin Pedroia was Ortiz’s catcher for this. After their first pitch, three of Papi’s former teammates, Pedro Martinez, Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield, met him on the field to shout “Play Ball.”

Papi went 2-for-5 with an RBI in his last home opener. Newly-acquired ace David Price was roughed up a bit, giving up 5 runs in 5 innings. A rally in the ninth fell short though, with the Sox losing 9-7 in the home opener.

Following the opener, Clay Buchholz struggled yet again the next night against Baltimore, also giving up 5 runs in 5 innings. They took the series finale 4-2 and the first two games of the Patriots’ Day-weekend series against the Toronto Blue Jays, thanks to strong performances by Rick Porcello and Price. The three game winning streak came to a halt with a 5-3 loss on Sunday and a tough 4-3 loss in the morning game on Patriots’ Day.

The Sox are now 6-6 on the season.

Many AIC students have mixed reviews about the start to the season. Junior Emily Cormier, a devout Red Sox fan, comments on the opener.

“I was really excited to see David Price start,” Cormier states. “The offense looks good, but our bullpen needs some work. I have high hopes that this will be a good season!”

The future for our team looks bright, and I also have high hopes for the Sox! Maybe there is a World Series championship in our future this year. Wouldn’t that be a great way for Big Papi to end his career?