Marathon Monday is a day like no other in Boston. Spectators packed into congested sidewalks, cheering on more than 30,000 runners who colored the city in blue and gold. Off the streets of the city, the same Boston spirit was alive at Fenway Park, where the Red Sox paid homage to the survivors and victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.
The first special game was held 13 years ago, five days after the bombing in 2013. In front of an extremely emotional crowd, team icon David Ortiz spoke in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 35,000 fans, giving a legendary speech: “This is our f—ing city, and nobody is going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong.”
For that game and every Patriots’ Day game since, players trade out the usual white home uniforms that say “Red Sox” across the front, for uniforms that say “Boston” with a Boston Strong patch — a slogan coined by an Emerson College student — to match.
On Monday, the American flag was draped over the Green Monster out in left field ahead of the final match of a four-game series against the Detroit Tigers. The responsibility to sing the national anthem that day was entrusted to a local student at Berklee College of Music: sophomore Julie Falcon. For her, the anticipation built from the moment she found out.
“When I got the callback, I just started practicing, and I knew I had to do something special for such an important day to Boston,” Falcon said in an interview with The Beacon shortly after her performance. “I stepped out there, and I wanted to do this for everyone in the crowd and to make them feel part of a community.”
While Falcon isn’t a Boston or Massachusetts native, coming to study in Boston from Germany, she understands what “Boston Strong” means to the people of the area. She said she was touched after seeing the slogan well represented this weekend across the city.
“It made me a little bit emotional because you see that everyone carries that one piece of the community together, and that’s what unites people,” Falcon said. “Everyone is in this together, and it’s so heartwarming to see all the love and support they have for each other and their city.”
For North Attleborough, Mass. twin brothers Tony and Geno Leco, it was an odd and shocking time to be in Boston during the time of the attacks. They recalled how everything quickly shut down, and people were receiving mixed information about what had happened.
“All our phones were shut down at the time, and I had gotten, like, thousands of texts asking if I was okay, but we had no idea what was going on,” Geno Leco said. “We then heard it was a gas explosion, but then we saw on the news the two kids who were out as suspects, and the chase was on.”
Andy Plante, a friend of the Lecos, had a much different response to the bombings that day as he took action as the head of security for a defense contractor that worked with Boston for that year’s marathon.
“In the first few minutes of hearing everything, it was like I was back in high school seeing the planes hit the towers and you’re absolutely frightened,” Plante said. “At that time, when we were on high alert, I had people relying on me knowing what to do, so I had to keep my head high.”
The response from not only the people in Massachusetts, but from all over the country, showed Plante what unity and community can do during tragedy. He said this is why he tries to come to the Patriots’ Day Red Sox game every year.
“I want to keep up that feeling of solidarity that we had then,” Plante said. “I try to keep our group to keep growing bigger and bigger so we can all enjoy the moments and what it means to be together that day.”
The Leco twins have made it a tradition to come to Boston for the Red Sox games during the marathon every year, even before the bombing. They throw on their Red Sox gear and make the trip all the way from Pawtucket, R.I. together.
“It’s a day off for fun, but it’s a day I get to spend together with my twin brother, and I would never miss it, especially after that day,” Tony Leco said. “Sports have always been part of our family to bond around, and we keep the same traditions. We go to the same bars and the same sausage guy because we love it.”
That 2013 Red Sox team ended up becoming something all of Boston could rally behind. In a season with mediocre expectations, now rocked by the Boston Marathon bombings, the Red Sox did the unthinkable and turned in a 97-win season. This was the best record in the American League and tied for the best in MLB, and they eventually won the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals in five games.
“That season was as magical as the 2004 team for me, which I never thought could be done,” Tony Leco said.
“They rallied behind the city, and we rallied behind them,” Geno Leco said. “Everyone from Ortiz to [Jon] Lester really stepped up, and I’ll never forget what that group of guys did for Boston.”
On a day full of celebration and Boston pride, as well as it being the 114th birthday of Fenway Park, the Red Sox beat the Tigers 8-6, leaving fans plenty to be happy about. The Patriots’ Day game will always be bigger than baseball. It’s about the unwavering spirits of a city that refuses to let something sinister defeat them.
