Finding the Best Spots to Watch the Sox on Opening Day

If you enjoy baseball or love the Boston Red Sox, then this is the best day of the year: Opening Day.

The 2011 Major League Baseball season officially got underway Thursday with six games being played and aside from a New York Yankees' win, it was good to have baseball back.

So what makes this day so special? Why do we love having baseball, and more importantly, the Red Sox in our lives for seven months out of the year? My answer comes from a movie you may have seen: Fever Pitch.

Jimmy Fallon's character, Ben Wrightman, in the 2005 Boston-based film brilliantly described what makes the game of baseball so great, especially in Boston: "I like being part of something that's bigger than me, than I. It's good for your soul to invest in something you can't control," Fallon's character said.

Isn't that the truth? For six to seventh months out of the year we are locked in and live and die through 162 games – just to get to the postseason! Every pitch, every at-bat is meticulously accounted for through statistics and we follow it because baseball is a game of numbers, a game of strategy and a game full of triumph, failure and second-guessing. It's what makes this game great. 

I have had the fortune of attending two Opening Days at Fenway Park. I was there in the grandstands in April 2008 for the Boston Red Sox home opener against the Detroit Tigers. Just a few short months before that game, the Sox were celebrating their second World Series title in three years, sweeping the Colorado Rockies in Denver in October 2007. 

It was a chilly day for baseball at Fenway, as most days in April are in New England, but the ballpark was warm with cheers for our defending World Champions as we all watched in awe at the pre-game festivities that included the ring ceremony and raising of the 2007 World Series Champions flag in centerfield. I will never forget the vibrant colors of green, red and white popping out of the old ball yard on 4 Yawkey Way over a blue sky and a roaring crowd of 36,000 Sox fans as our favorite players collected their rings. What was also neat about this day was witnessing members from championship teams in all four sports: New England Patriots, Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins, join the Red Sox with their respective championship trophies just off the first baseline in the infield. What a sight to see! And dirt never looked so good as it did around the bases that day. To cap off the incredible day of festivities, Dice-K pitched surprisingly well and the Sox came away with win one of the season. A good day in my book. 

My second Opening Day experience is much more recent and was in fact Opening Night. Last April, the Sox opened against the defending World Champion New York Yankees at Fenway Park on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball on Easter Sunday. We all know that Sox-Yankees is the best rivalry in sport and to say otherwise is just inaccurate. Think about it, the Sox and Yankees meet up  Game One of the 2010 season, with 161 to be played after, and the crowd of 36,000-plus is treating it like Game 7 of the ALCS, living and dying with every pitch, myself included.

The Sox did not disappoint. From the pre-game bells and whistles that included Pedro Martinez in his old No. 45 jersey making his way to the mound to throw out the first pitch, to a young child giving the crowd an inspirational speech on how the Red Sox "will kick the Yankees butts" this season, to "play ball." The night was magical. The game itself was one of playoff intensity and atmosphere as the Sox were down through the first five innings before roaring back and holding on for a 9-7 win. The big hit of the night? Dustin Pedroia's two-run bomb over the Green Monster to tie the score at seven in the seventh inning. Unbelievable night of baseball.

So here we are again, a new season and one with high expectations around New England. In fact, it would be a fair argument to say this may be the year of highest expectations for the Sox, beating out the 2004 expectations after Boston traded for Medfield resident and former ace, Curt Schilling. The off-season acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford coupled with a revamped bullpen put Sox fans in a World Series title and State of Mind and why not? For 86 years, Red Sox Nation, though much smaller than it is now, said at the start of each season "This is the Year." And so we say it again, "This is the year!"

Opening Day is special for everyone who enjoys baseball. Fans, players, managers and owners. Many have said it should be a holiday and why not? We all will be trying to duck work early and get in front of a TV at 4:05 p.m. today to see the first pitch of the season – a pitch that often holds so much artificial promise to the year. If anything else it's ceremonial and tradition. So, if you are one of the many looking to call it an early weekend and want to take in today with other Sox fans, here are some hot spots in the area worth checking out. 

1.  This popular bar and restaurant on Main Street lets fans know which of their favorite teams are playing each day with team flags hanging from the side of the building. Today, the Red Sox flag will be waving wildly through the wind and snow, inviting Red Sox Nation in for some great food, drinks and atmosphere. There are four TVs set up in the bar area so you can catch the Sox action from almost any vantage point. There will also be Opening Day specials so be sure to ask about them when you sit down. 

2. CBS Scene. This three-story state-of-the-art restaurant in Foxboro is equipped with over 135 high-definition TVs; A more than perfect setting to watch a big sports match-up. Grab a snack at the bar or dinner while you catch the Sox in action.

 3. Jake n Joes. The feeling of being at Fenway Park surrounds this Foxboro sports bar and restaurant from the minute you enter. With a bar area equipped to handle any rowdy crowd and great food, Jake n Joes is the perfect spot to start baseball season.

4. Cask 'n Flagon. If you work in the city and there's no way you can make it home for 4:05 p.m., then go to the heart of Red Sox Nation right outside Fenway Park and enjoy the game, food and drinks with fellow Sox fans. 

5. Bleacher Bar. If Cask 'n Flagon is too busy or you feel like venturing down Lansdowne Street because the awe of Fenway Park is drawing you in then stop by the Bleacher Bar to get an inside look of Fenway Park from centerfield and enjoy wall to wall memorabilia of the local nine. If you're in the city this is your editor's pick to watch the game, you won't be disappointed. Great food and adult beverages as well. 

So there you have it, whether you're looking to catch the first pitch or pick up the action in the later innings after you get out of work, there's our five picks for places to watch the game. Where will you be at 4:05 p.m.?

Have a great spot that I should add to the list?