The return of a Red Sox fan-favorite is being hailed but a looming farewell might have deserved more attention – The Athletic

The Red Sox wrote a tight, well-planned, and technically flawless pregame program for Friday’s traditional Fenway Park opening, from a ceremony commemorating the late Jerry Remy to a sweet rendition of the national anthem by the Boston Children’s Chorus.

And on an afternoon when all the uniformed members of the Red Sox and the visiting Minnesota Twins were celebrating Jackie Robinson Day by wearing the Brooklyn Dodger legend’s number 42, retired hitter Mo Vaughn was the last Sox player to wear these Number wore, ready to throw from the first pitch. There was even an extra hiss as Mo let his young son Lee eject the pitch. And it was a bee.

The only flaw was that the pre-game ceremony was followed by, well, baseball. And for Red Sox fans, it was pretty bad. The Red Sox fell behind early thanks to a two-inning performance by Sox starter Nick Pivetta that roughed up the right-hander for four runs. The game raged into the eighth inning when the Sox hit a three, two of those runs met a two-run homer by Rafael Devers, which bounced off the top of the fence in the right field corner, but… the Sox ended up losing 8 -4. It was, to say the least, a wow-wow.

But allow us to get cliche here by noting that sometimes good things happen that don’t show up in the box score. And this was the good thing that happened that doesn’t show up in the box score: