Red Sox Open Season

BOSTON--With a massive Coke bottle looming in left field and an aging Roger Clemens dealt off the roster, yesterday's 85th opening day at Fenway Park had plenty of signs that baseball is moving into the commercialized 21 st century.

But, far from inspiring nostalgia for a mythical golden age of baseball, the 5-3 Red Sox loss to the Seattle Mariners was the stuff nostalgia is made of.

The Sox may have opened the season playing the Angels in antiseptic Orange County, but yesterday they came home to one of the nation's legendary baseball towns.

Few cities can claim to embrace the ups and downs of baseball culture like Boston.

Yesterday, as fans were still pouring out from the Kenmore T-station, across the turnpike and into the oldest ballpark in the nation, one of the many stalwart Soxs fans was already shelling her peanuts 30 rows up from home plate.

Celia Burke is moving into her late 60s, recently lost her husband and has been at the last 30 opening days.

She said she has her problems with the way the team is being run these days, but she keeps coming back to friendly Fenway.

And after 30 years, Burke expressed strong opinions about everyone from Carlton Fisk to Roger Clemens.

Burke said she is not very happy with Clemens.

"He didn't keep himself in shape," Burke said. "He owed that much to the team."

"Mo Vaugan, on the other-hand works out every day," she added.

As Burke, along with thousands of other fans, watched the Mariners shoot a line-drive over short-stop Nomar Garciaparra's diving glove for a second inning hit, she put her hand over her mouth and gasped.

With a high-pitched boo, she was not afraid to yell at the umpires.

"I don't know where the strike zone is any more," Burke said. "Each umpire has a different strike zone."

Burke also said she is displeased with Dan Duquette, the team's new general manager, who many believe has taken to running the team with a certain lack of compassion.

She recalled happier days on the playing field.

"I liked way back when Fisk was playing," Burke said.

But, she said, the management managed to screwed things up in that case too.

"They dissed him--is that the word, dissed?" she asked. "They sent him his contract a week late. It wasn't good. He should have stayed."

A seasoned Sox fan, Burke didn't have much confidence in team's ability to come back when they were behind by a few runs going into the eighth inning.

Unwilling to witness the defeat, Burke decided to head out.

She put together her two shopping bags, threw her pink polyester scarf over her shoulder and slowly trudged down the 30 rows--off to a senior meeting, she said.

This year Fenway is instituting a new alcohol policy which terminates the park's foamy Bud Light after two and half hours of play.

Nevertheless, most fans were sufficiently served to become marginally excited when the Red Sox had the go-ahead-run at bat in the bottom of the ninth.

Not before he struggled to a full count and brought the Fenway crowd to its feet did Sox batter John Valentin get called out on strikes to end the game.