Maybe the Yankees will watch so they never will forget. Maybe the ones who have won multiple rings -- Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, manager Joe Torre -- will remember what it felt like.
There will be on hand a lot of celebrities, some of the authors of several of the 20 books now out on the Red Sox, former Sox, and even Derek Lowe was scheduled to fly here from Phoenix, where he pitched for the Dodgers yesterday against the Diamondbacks, setting aside for now his feelings about the Sox organization after it failed to re-sign him this offseason.
There'll likely be surprises -- perhaps people we never imagined would show up. And how big will the ovation be for manager Terry Francona when he's introduced?
The only manager to have won a championship in the lifetimes of most in Red Sox Nation, Francona not only will be honored for that accomplishment, but it will be his first public appearance since he recently was stricken with chest pains at Yankee Stadium. Francona spent parts of three days in hospitals in New York and Boston, having numerous tests that indicated the pain likely was caused by a viral illness.
Francona, much like Torre, has remained a regular guy -- something that is not a given from championship managers and coaches in sports. Because of that, fans have been able to better relate to and embrace Francona.
But the day will be just as much for the longtime and well-respected employees of the Red Sox. It'll be a great moment for folks like Charlie Wagner, Johnny Pesky, Dick Berardino, Tommy Harper, Jim Rice, Frank Malzone, Sam Mele (retired from the organization), Felix Maldonado, Dwight Evans, and Jim Rice, who have been around the organization for so long. Guys like Rico Petrocelli, Jim Lonborg, Carl Yastrzemski, and the many others who never won the Series.
