Kenley Jansen has spent his career pitching with powerhouse teams, but he knew the Red Sox would be different.
The veteran closer debuted with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010, and has pitched on postseason teams every year since 2013, when LA began a nine-year postseason appearance streak, including eight consecutive division titles, three pennants, and a World Series championship. He spent 2022 with the Atlanta Braves, who went 101-61 and won their division.
Both franchises have passionate fan bases, but in Game 2 of the season, Jansen was already feeling the Boston difference.
“It was awesome. Right when I got out there, it’s just, that level of energy,” the 35-year-old righty raved. “The excitement, you can hear the crowd.”
Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth for his season debut. He gave up a hit and walk but struck out two, including the last batter he faced. Ending the frame on that exclamation point delighted the Fenway Faithful, who roared in approval.
But the closer thought it was game-over when Masataka Yoshida came up with two outs and hit a routine fly ball to left, so he started to head for the clubhouse.
Except, the game was still going.
“I hear the fans screaming, I turned back, and looked, and [Ryan McKenna] had dropped the ball,” Jansen said.
Thanks to McKenna’s error, Adam Duvall, who’d struck out swinging to end the comeback attempt on Opening Day, was given a second chance.
Boston’s new centerfielder already had a triple, home run, double, and multiple runs and RBI under his belt when he came up to bat with the game on the line. He needed a single to hit for the cycle, but settled for his second home run, a walk-off to the Green Monster, instead.
The Standell’s “Dirty Water” blasted out of the stadium speakers for the first time this year, the team rushed the field, under Fenway’s new, flashing LED lights.
Jansen was on the other side of Red Sox celebrations in 2018, when the Dodgers came to town to begin the World Series. They lost both of the only two games played in Boston, and the Red Sox went on to win it in five on the road.
“Being on the road and playing here, you just don’t feel it until you wear this uniform here, and then you can pay attention and feel the moment,” he explained. “It was electric.”
“Credit to all those teams that I’ve played with, the Braves, the Dodgers, wonderful organizations, but I’m telling you, the excitement… it’s crazy. This atmosphere is electric, it’s great, I’m loving it,” he said with a smile. “And I’m gonna feed off of it the whole season. That will be my fuel and my energy.”
His manager was impressed, too.
“It just felt different,” Alex Cora said on Sunday morning. “When Dugie (Alex Verdugo) hit that homer, and then Duvie (Adam Duvall) hit the other one, they got into it.”
Saturday night wasn’t even close to a sellout game; Fenway took in just over 29,000 in paid attendance, but it was a case of quality over quantity. As the game went on and the home team chipped away at the deficit, the crowd got louder. “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers has become a regular in the musical rotation over the last several years, and the customary fan singalong after the DJ faded the music out was as loud as it’s ever been.
Many of the fans in attendance on Saturday were rooting for the visiting team, and they made their presence known, too.
“The anthem got me,” Cora said. “That was the biggest ‘O’s!’ I’ve heard in a while. That was loud.”
But the home team and home base won out in the end, and as Duvall walked it off, fans were rewarded with a light show from the ballpark’s upgraded system.
“They’ve done an amazing job,” Cora said of the new lighting display. “That was perfect timing. Yeah, I was dying for that one.”
The biggest change this season is the new, more energy-efficient lights in the towers around the field. The new LED setup’s product life is at least ten times better than the old system (installed in 1982), and offers better visibility in-person and on broadcasts. The Red Sox can also add special effects and light shows to games and events now, in Saturday night’s victory.
Finding a way to marry history and innovation is crucial for Major League Baseball, but especially for a historic franchise with the oldest ballpark. Some of the new innovations and features around the league are impossible to implement here, though Fenway Sports Group spends considerably to continue improving and modernizing the 112-year-old ballpark. Since purchasing the team in 2002, they’ve made over $400 million of private investment into the ballpark.
“History is history, and we respect that,” Cora acknowledged. “This is Fenway Park, and I think as an organization, we’ve done an amazing job improving the facility and keeping what it means to all of us, but you got to catch up, you know?”