On Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park in Boston, the Red Sox faced off against the Kansas City Royals for their first home game since last week’s Boston Marathon bombing. As expected, the pre-game ceremony was filled with remembrance of the victims and a celebration of Boston law enforcement and first responders.
David Ortiz, who was coming off an injury and playing for the first time in eight months, received the ceremonial first pitch behind home plate. The veteran Red Sox player also had some inspirational words for those in attendance at Fenway Park on Saturday.
“This jersey that we wear today, it doesn’t say Red Sox,” Ortiz said. “It says ‘Boston.’ We want to thank you Mayor [Thomas] Menino, Gov. [Deval] Patrick, the whole police department for the great job they did this past week. This is our fucking city and nobody is going to dictate our freedom.”