April 11, 2005 ... They paid hundreds in some cases, thousands of dollars to be there. Some fans at Fenway Park paid as much as $100 to park and all sat in 46-degree temperatures, enduring winds that chilled to the marrow.

None of that mattered. The citizens of Red Sox Nation had waited too long to worry about cost, climate, or any inconvenience. This was the day the Sox raised the World Series flag and dropped the curtain on Boston Baseball's Bacchanalia a six-month festival triggered by the greatest comeback in sports history and the Hub's first hardball championship since 1918.

All this day lacked was Neil Diamond himself, singing and yielding to the fans, except that the 33,702 at Fenway Park didn't need anyone to tell them that "good times never seemed so good." Bill Russell, who hadn't set foot in the old yard in four decades, walked out of the Green Monster like a cinematic Shoeless Joe out of an Iowa cornfield. He was joined in similar fashion by Bobby Orr, Richard Seymour, and Tedy Bruschi.  

In a 45-minute ceremony lengthy, but not nearly long enough to offset the 86 years and one million-96 tears that advanced the hard-earned world series win, the sox paid tribute to Fenway favorites past and present, handed out the rings, and raised the championship banner in center field for the first time since 1919. Derek Lowe and Dave Roberts, heroes from 2004 who have moved to new teams, received two of the loudest ovations. Pedro Martinez, another who has moved on, did not come back for the game, as the Mets had their home opener. Carl Yastrzemski, the greatest living Sox player, and Johnny Pesky, a veteran of 64 years with the franchise, had the privilege of pulling the cords to run the flag up the pole. They were joined in the outfield by last year's champions and another 25 men who toiled in Red Sox flannels but never won the ultimate game.

They were all here to see a World Series banner tumble over, and conceal, the Green Monster. And to glimpse that ring with the inscription: "Greatest Comeback in History." Mariano Rivera, the Yankees' future Hall of Fame closer, was cheered madly by the Boston fans, a backhanded compliment in the wake of his recent struggles against the Red Sox. Rivera smiled broadly and waved to the hooting masses. It was another classic vignette on this cold, perfect day.

After the hype there was baseball to be played, and the Sox put together a full nine innings like they hadn't in this young season, producing a rewarding and resounding 8-1 beating of the Yankees in the 94th Fenway opener. The game was decided by the performances of the most alluring character on each team, the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez and the Red Sox' Tim Wakefield. Wakefield, the longest-tenured Sox player (April 26, 1995), worked seven clinical innings, conceding only five hits, two walks, and one unearned run. He allowed more than one base runner in only one inning, the fourth, when Rodriguez scored on an Edgar Renteria mental blunder and throwing error.

But the error of note belonged to Rodriguez, who said he was "overaggressive" in playing Damon's two-out grounder in the bottom of the fourth. The ball went through Rodriguez, making possible Trot Nixon's double and Manny Ramirez's single. Those consecutive hits bumped a 4-1 Sox lead to 7-1.

A-Rod also made the error Wednesday in New York with one out, the bases loaded, and the Yankees ahead, 3-2, in the ninth inning. Had he gloved that ball cleanly he probably would have begun a game- ending double play. Instead, the Sox scored five runs, four unearned, to win, 7-3. Rodriguez has been responsible for seven unearned Red Sox runs in the last two games between these teams. Sox fans, ever appreciative, gave Rodriguez a near-standing ovation in the eighth when he made a routine play on a Doug Mirabelli ground out.

Wakefield, meanwhile, pitched like an ace, which he transforms into when starting against the Yankees. The 38-year-old knuckleballer now has faced the Yankees 11 times as a starter, postseason included, since Grady Little restored him to the rotation in 2003. In those starts he's 6-2 with a 2.52 ERA. He's allowed three runs or fewer and gone six innings or more in 10 of those 11 starts. In his time with the Sox, Wakefield never had pitched a home opener.

Usually, Wakefield doesn't like pitching with a stiff wind at his back, as was the case yesterday. Despite the wind, the numbing cold, and the benumbing excitement, he was unfailingly focused. He struck out five, Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui in the first, Jason Giambi in the second, and Derek Jeter in the third and fifth.

Jeter's body all but crumpled on that last Wakefield strikeout, when he managed a hopeless three-quarter swing.

It was Mirabelli who put the Sox ahead early, and for good, with a two-run homer in the second inning. It was vintage Mirabelli: weather suited for football, no batting gloves on his hands, no at- bats in five days, and then, in one swing, a momentum-gaining hit. Given Mike Mussina's vast repertoire, and his own rust, Mirabelli knew he was better off swinging early. And when that first-pitch fastball came, he sent it screaming into the Monster seats.

After the game, the players were off to see the rings. Damon carried his in the official wooden box the size of a lunch box. Curt Schilling wore his Sox ring on his middle finger, right next to his 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks ring. The Sox ring looked twice the size.