BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox celebrated the 50th anniversary of their 1975 AL championship team before their home opener on Friday, with special attention paid to pitcher Luis Tiant, who died this offseason.
“I miss Luis. We all do,” said former Red Sox outfielder Dwight Evans, who played with Tiant in Boston for seven seasons. “I try to take something from everybody I’m around. And with him, it’s just his love for people.”
Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski threw out the ceremonial first pitch to current manager Alex Cora before Friday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals; Bill “Spaceman” Lee took the mound and hammed it up. Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk and Fred Lynn were also among more than a dozen other members of the ’75 team who took part in the ceremony.
Tiant, who followed an All-Star career with decades of as a Red Sox instructor and ambassador, died in October at the age of 83. A banner with a heart bearing his nickname -- “El Tiante” – was displayed on one of the light stanchions above the Green Monster, and a “moment of reflection” honored those who’d played for the team and died since last season: Tiant, Rickey Henderson, Felix Mantilla, Bob Veale and Scott Sauerbeck.
Tiant’s family made the ceremonial call of “Play ball!”
“Luis is a guy that we miss,” Cora said. “He was always teaching the guys how it used to be. And what it means to be a Red Sox. … He’ll go down there and talk to them, in a very unique way. Always with a smile.”
Asked what was unique about it, Cora said with a laugh, “I would not talk to my kids that way.”
Tiant started the '75 opener at Fenway – and pitched one of his 187 career complete games to beat a Milwaukee Brewers team that included Hall of Famers Hank Aaron and Robin Yount.
“I’m sure Luis was emotional about it,” Lynn said. “He loved pitching here. He just loved pitching, period. And he was such a competitor, and I feel honored to have played behind him as much as I did.”
Lynn, who would win the AL MVP and Rookie of the Year awards, said he remembered seeing Tiant's unusual pitching windup from his position in center field.
“That’s the first time I’m behind Luis. So, I’m watching him wind up like everybody else,” Lynn said, thinking: “'Man, that’s different. I wouldn’t want to have to hit against him, especially as a right-handed hitter.'”
The ’75 Red Sox finished April in fifth place in the AL East but wound up winning the division by 4 ½ games over the Baltimore Orioles. They swept the Oakland A’s in the AL Championship Series and then faced Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in a World Series that is still considered one of the greatest of all time — with Fisk's arm-waving, 12th-inning homer to win Game 6 before the Reds won it in seven games and prolonged Boston's championship drought.
The bat that Fisk used — one of Burleson's that Fisk borrowed because it was lighter and shorter for late in the long game — was at Fenway on Friday for the festivities. It usually resides at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Lynn batted .331 with 21 homers and 105 RBIs, and Rice finished third in the MVP voting; Yastrzemski and shortstop Rick Burleson also received MVP votes. Tiant was 18-14 with a 4.02 ERA – a humdrum season for the pitcher who previously led the league in ERA twice.
“Everybody knows the talent. Everybody knows his story,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said. But I don’t think people who didn’t spend time with him … know he was such an incredible person.
“He loves this franchise. Loved the team. And we’re just so grateful for what he meant to so many of us. He sort of set the standard for it meant to put that uniform on. He appreciated it each and every day. And we appreciated having him around for all those years.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski (8) hugs Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora after Yastrzemski after tossing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to a home-opener baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
Former Boston Red Sox players from the 1975 team Carl Yastrzemski (8) and Carlton Fisk are introduced during opening ceremonies of a home-opener baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski, left, and catcher Carlton Fisk acknowledge fans as they walk onto the field prior to a home-opener baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
