NESN filling baseball void with Red Sox classics

BOSTON -- NESN knows full well how much you are missing the Red Sox, and the popular regional sports network will continue to call on its mammoth archives to try to fill that hole in your heart while MLB is on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday at 6 p.m. ET, NESN will re-air “Band of Bearded Brothers,” the story of the 2013 champion Red Sox.

And on Sunday at 3 p.m., you can watch the ensuing parade, which is probably the most emotional celebration of them all given the tie-in with the Boston Marathon bombings earlier in the year.

Later, from Monday through Sunday of next week, NESN will re-air a memorable home opener each day starting at 6 p.m.

Monday’s entry is from 2017 against the Pirates -- a 5-3 victory highlighted by Andrew Benintendi opening his rookie season with a game-turning three-run homer to right against Gerrit Cole.

On Tuesday, you get another ring ceremony, this time the 2008 opener against the Tigers. The real fun was before the game, when Bill Buckner was welcomed home with a thunderous ovation and threw the ceremonial first pitch to Dwight Evans.

A Red Sox-Yankees rivalry home opener from 2011 is on tap for Wednesday. After an 0-6 road trip to start the season, Boston felt much better playing at Fenway, riding Dustin Pedroia to a 9-6 win.

The Sox and Yankees take the stage again on Thursday night -- this one the season opener from 2010. In that memorable Sunday night game on ESPN, Pedroia smashed a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh to lead the way to an 8-7 win.

On Friday, you’ll see the magic of Mookie Betts from the 2015 home opener against the Nationals. All Betts did in the first two innings of the game was rob Bryce Harper of a homer, steal two bases in one sequence and hammer a three-run long ball himself. The Sox prevailed, 9-4.

The week will be capped next Saturday by probably the most memorable home opener in team history -- the one against the Yankees in 2005, when Boston collected World Series rings for the first time in 86 years as their rivals watched.

NESN is finalizing its programming for the coming weeks, but plans are underway for one week of games featuring the “Best of David Ortiz” and another week featuring the “Best of Roger Clemens” pitching performances.