Celebration at Boston Red Sox Game
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Aaron Katersky(BOSTON) — On Saturday, the Boston Red Sox played their first home game since the Marathon bombing suspects were caught. The day was about more than just baseball, and the game and ceremony that preceded it were a defiant display of spirit after a week of terror.
The Red Sox players wore a special “Boston Strong,” patch and members of the crowd echoed the sentiment, bearing signs with slogans like “One Boston. One Red Sox Nation,” and “We Are Boston: Free, Brave and Strong.”
“We’re resilient. We’re strong. We’re in it together,” said Warren Tolman, who lives just blocks from where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured.
Some members of the crowd announced their intentions to run in the 2014 Boston Marathon.
Photos from the worst day in recent Boston history were shown on the big screen as “Hallelujah” played on the loudspeakers. The crowd applauded whenever a volunteer or fireman was depicted helping the injured. Pictures of the three who were killed and the MIT campus officer shot dead were shown and there was a moment of silence.
Then, inspired by fans at Boston Bruins game earlier this week, the entire crowd sang the national anthem.
Big Papi, David Ortiz, dropped an f-bomb when he addressed the crowd prior to the game, saying, “This is our f—ing city.”
The Governor of Massachusetts, the Boston Police Commissioner, and the Special Agent in charge of the FBI office in Boston all joined the Red Sox in their dugout.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick spoke of the importance of continuing to help and remember the victims of the Marathon attack. “I just think it’s important for them to know we’re here with them and that we will be here after, with due respect, you guys and gals go home, and some of the immediacy of it has passed because in the case of many of those injuries, they are going to be dealing with it for a long time,” he said.
Patrick said later that Tsarnaev was in serious but stable condition, and unable to speak yet.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio