One of baseball's most hallowed venues is found nestled within the streets of Boston, a city blessed with one of the richest legacies in all of sport. Fenway Park is, to many, synonymous with the game of baseball. Opened in 1912, just a few short days removed from the sinking of the Titanic, the stadium has borne witness to countless of the game's greats, including a rookie Babe Ruth in 1915. Home to the Boston Red Sox, the stadium that would become so important and enduring for more than a century-and-counting had one of the most inauspicious openings. Originally scheduled to host a contest with the visiting New York Highlanders on April 19, 1912, the game was rained out, forcing fans to wait another day for the festivities. On April 20, 1912, coming off a five-game road trip to start their season, the Red Sox, led by Tris Speaker and Harry Hooper, hosted Hal Chase's Highlanders in front of a crowd estimated to be around 24,000 strong. In a tight game, the two teams battled to a score of 6-6 at the end of regulation, with Speaker cementing the home team's victory in the bottom of the 11th. 



Offered here is an incredible surviving relic from this most important day in the history of the Boston Red Sox. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the only known example of the opening day program from the 1912 Boston Red Sox World Championship season and the opening of Fenway Park. It has been dutifully scored to record each play of the 11-inning game and was consigned to us with a ticket stub from the April 20, 1912, game, which is an incredible rarity in its own right. The 12-page program (including covers) remains in outstanding condition given its age. The front cover features an aerial rendering of the stadium at top along with the headline "Official Score Book and Souvenir Boston American League Baseball Club." The year 1912 is neatly positioned between that text and the surrounding street names, which have become landmarks of their own to the Boston faithful. With a price of five cents, the program features a number of advertisements on the front, back, and inside, including one for Moxie, which future Sox slugger Ted Williams would endorse decades later. In the center of the program are the two pages of scorecards, positioned on consecutive pages. For the Red Sox, Harry Hooper, Tris Speaker, Jake Stahl, and Joe Wood appear in the preprinted lineup. Interestingly, Wood, who was the workhorse pitcher of the staff and won 34 games that season, ultimately did not pitch in the April 20 game and his name is crossed out with a pencil mark next to Buck O'Brien, the game's starter, in the list of reserve players below. For the Highlanders, Guy Zinn, Hal Chase, and Gabby Street are noted as starters, while their preprinted pitcher is also marked off and his replacement noted. 



As noted earlier, the condition of this piece is quite impressive given its age and fragile nature. All pages remain intact and stapled neatly along the center. There is moderate toning present on the front cover as well as very minor edge wear along the top border. The back cover exhibits toning throughout along with unobtrusive areas of paper loss along the peripheral top and left edges, most likely due to the program's method of display over the years. A small tear in the back cover paper is also present at top. None of these condition issues detract in any way from the overall impressive display value of this program, and its significance to collectors and the Red Sox franchise as well as its incredible rarity make it a welcomed sight in whatever manner it appears. It is a great honor for Huggins & Scott to present this piece, along with the accompanying ticket as its own lot, and document the important history the events of April 20, 1912 had on this storied franchise.  Opening Bid $2,500.