Former Red Sox players who have had their numbers retired threw out ceremonial first pitches prior to Friday night's game against the Rays. (Photo by China Wong/Getty Images)

Getty Images

On Friday night, the Boston Red Sox celebrated the 125^th anniversary of their first-ever home game, at Huntington Avenue Grounds. That game happened on May 8, 1901. To commemorate the day, all living Red Sox alumni with retired numbers were invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Fenway Park, where the Red Sox have played since 1912, is the oldest ballpark (two years older than Wrigley Field in Chicago) in major league baseball. Historically, they have an incredible record in their home whites. In fact, entering the season, Boston had a .567 winning percentage at home, which equates to a nearly 92-win season.

Unfortunately, they are currently 7-11 at “The Fens” in 2026. According to the Boston Globe, as of Friday morning, Boston ranked 26^th in MLB in home batting average (.222) and home on base percentage (.302). They are 28^th in runs at home per game (3.1); and dead last in slugging percentage at home (.320). But when they leave the Back Bay, they slash .247/.326/.378, with 20 homers. No great shakes, but considerably better.

Going into the season, it was clear that the Red Sox lacked slug in their lineup. When they failed to re-sign third baseman Alex Bregman and did not sign first baseman Pete Alonso (who, ironically, is the New York Mets all-time home run leader), they turned their sights to Trevor Story, hoping the shortstop could stay healthy and repeat his 25-homer performance from last season (a level he has reached six times in his career). And then they traded for first baseman Willson Contreras, who hit 20 dingers last year, and has cleared that threshold six times over his first ten big league seasons. But all eyes were focused on rookie sensation (TBD) Roman Anthony, who many pegged as the next Ted Williams.

Well, through nearly a quarter of the season, Story has two home runs (both on the road); Contreras has a respectable eight dingers (which is about a 35-HR pace), but only three of those have been hit over the Green Monster; and Anthony is currently on the IL with a sprained wrist (no great loss as he is slashing just .229/.354/.321 with a single round-tripper, hit, of course, on the road).

The good news for Boston is that a great many teams were actually worse. Since the “Year of the Pitcher” (1968), 17 teams have posted lower home batting averages, with four of those coming in the truncated 60-game Covid season in 2020. On the power front, with Friday night’s performance, the Red Sox leaped ahead of the Texas Rangers, hitting their eighth and ninth home home runs ay home, which puts Boston on pace for roughly 41 (Texas is on pace for about 35). By way of comparison, the 1979 Astros, playing in the cavernous Astrodome, hit 55.

The Sox did help their power cause on Friday night, scoring both of their runs via the long ball, with Wilyer Abreu (his sixth of the season) and Ceddanne Rafaela (#3) both leaving the yard for two of Boston’s four hits, representing their only runs of the night. But, from an overall hitting perspective, Friday night was another bust. As a team they went 4-for-29 (.138), with eight total baserunners over their eight times to the plate (.242 OBP).

There is no doubt that as the weather in Boston heats up, so too will the bats. But then the question is will that be “too little, too late?” The Red Sox are tied for last place with the Orioles, nine games back of the Yankees (who swept them in late April leading to Alex Cora’s (and his coaching staff’s) firing. The Yankees, who look formidable, and will only get better when Gerrit Cole comes off the IL, Giancarlo Stanton comes back from injury, and Aaron Judge really heats up (although he may already have gotten hot: .316, 4 HRs, 11 runs scored in his last ten games). From a wild card perspective, hope springs eternal. The American League is so disappointing this season — just four teams with records above .500 — that the Red Sox find themselves only one game back of the wild card pack.

Boston has two more games against the Rays this weekend, a team that boasts the 5^th best ERA in MLB, and is tied for the second best WHIP. And the two home runs they gave up to the Red Sox last night jumped their total for the season to eight, so don’t expect too many more balls flying out of Fenway Park Saturday or Sunday.

However, for the Red Sox to contend, they will have to make better use of their home cooking, play better, and most specifically, hit more when in their final 63 games in the Back Bay*.

^{*The Red Sox have won four World Series titles since 2004. Their home record in each of those seasons: 2004: 55-26 (.679); 2007: 50-31 (.617); 2013: 53-28 (.654); 2018: 57-24 (.704).}