MLB

Red Sox legends mark 100th anniversary of Fenway Park

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WELCOME BACK: Former Red Sox players and coaches stream out of center field yesterday at Fenway Park’s 100th anniversary celebration. Kevin Millar and Pedro Martinez led fans in a toast, while former manager Terry Francona (top right) received a warm ovation and Hall of Fame outfielder Carl Yastrzemski chatted with current Boston manager Bobby Valentine. (ANTHONY J. CAUSI(TOP LEFT)/ AP(TOP RIGHT)/ GETTY(BOTTOM RIGHT))

BOSTON —The third player to walk onto the field during yesterday’s 100th anniversary celebration at Fenway Park was Bill Buckner, who got a thunderous ovation from Red Sox fans.

That may not have happened — and the ceremony likely would have been much different — if the Red Sox hadn’t come back on the Yankees from an 0-3 deficit in the 2004 ALCS en route to their first World Series title in 86 years.

“Boston had a load it wanted to get rid of,” Pedro Martinez said after the festivities. “They got the monkey off their back. … Now, I think Boston has so many reasons to brag. Whatever the Yankees bring up as far as having success, you can easily knock it out by saying we knocked you out after being 0-and-3. The one the Boston Red Sox were able to get from the Yankees was probably the most painful ever, I think, in any sport to the Yankees fans.”

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So that made it easier for the once-reviled Buckner, as well as a lot of other former Red Sox, to return to the park that hosted its first game on April 20, 1912 when the Red Sox defeated the New York Highlanders.

Recent retirees such as Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek got big cheers as they were joined by David Ortiz. Fan favorites Johnny Pesky and Bobby Doerr were brought out in wheelchairs. Martinez, Kevin Millar and Nomar Garciaparra all drew loud cheers. But perhaps the most boisterous of all were reserved for Terry Francona.

The former manager, who left after last season’s late-season collapse — and who did not intend to come back to Fenway so soon because he was upset about some of the stories leaked after his departure — was greeted by chants of “Tito.”

And most of that affection stems from the 2004 season.

“We weren’t the best players,” Millar said. “We had a few superstars: Pedro and Manny [Ramirez], David [Ortiz] turned into one… [but] we had great people.”

Then he took a shot at his rivals.

“Everybody contributed and you can’t buy that,” Millar said. “The Yankees have been trying to do it for years. We had [Bill] Mueller, [Mark] Bellhorn, Orlando Cabrera and [Jason] Varitek. The Yankees, you look over there and it was [Alex Rodriguez] and [Derek] Jeter and [Jason] Giambi. It didn’t match up on paper. But we had good people.”

That team’s success overshadowed some of the other history of the organization, but Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Mo Vaughn and Dwight Evans also got the sellout crowd on its feet.

Some former players, such as Wade Boggs, Fred Lynn and Curt Schilling, did not attend the ceremony. Neither did Manny Ramirez, who is serving a 50-game drug suspension. Roger Clemens, who is on trial for perjury, did not attend.

But their absence didn’t seem to bother anyone, as the fans were led in a toast by Millar and the retired Martinez.

“There’s a magic to it,” manager Bobby Valentine said of his new home. “It’s the baseball Land of Oz. People dream about this place.”