Xander Bogaerts returns to Fenway Park for the first time as a Padre

BOSTON — Without a bat to swing or a ball to throw, injured Padres second baseman Xander Bogaerts was able to focus exclusively on nostalgia as he made his first trip to Fenway Park since leaving after the 2022 season , ending a nearly decade-long streak with the Red Sox that included a pair of World Series championship banners.

Before the start of the second inning, a Bogaerts highlight package played on the jumbotron, featuring plenty of big hits and those patented jump shots into the hole that he modeled after his childhood idol Derek Jeter.

At the end of the video, the caption read: “The Red Sox welcome back World Series Champion Xander Bogaerts.”

Bogaerts came out of the dugout and waved to the crowd with his hat on, while keeping a big smile on his face. The crowd roared with joy.

“I’ve been here for so long and I have a lot of memories,” Bogaerts said. “A lot of good, but also bad, difficult. But I feel like it’s been a lot more good than bad.”

Of course, Bogaerts would have preferred to face his original franchise, just like he did when the Red Sox came to San Diego last season. Recovering from a broken left shoulder suffered May 20 in Atlanta, Bogaerts hopes to be activated by the Padres before the All-Star break.

“It really sucks, because it’s a game you had marked on your calendar, and I was looking forward to it and hoping maybe I could play,” Bogaerts said. “But at least I’m here and I’m watching a baseball game.”

Bogaerts exercised the opt-out clause in his contract with Boston after the 2022 season. A few weeks later, as the Winter Meetings were wrapping up — coincidentally, in San Diego — Bogaerts signed an 11-year, $280 million contract with the Padres.

Although Bogaerts hoped to play his entire career in Boston, the baseball world changed his outlook. There was no trace of bitterness on either side Friday.

“I’m happy and I feel like they are too,” Bogaerts said.

For more than an hour Friday afternoon, Bogaerts stood outside the dugout he called home and chatted with Red Sox manager Alex Cora and rookie Ceddanne Rafaela.

The emotions were not mixed. Bogaerts was truly happy to be back home.

“(So) many people have helped me get to where I am right now,” Bogaerts said. “I mean, pretty much everybody on that side that’s helped me. I’m very grateful to them, the players, the coaches and the front office. They’ve always been very nice to me.”

When it came to Bogaerts and the Red Sox, it wasn’t just the 1,264 games he played, the 179 home runs he hit or the stability he brought to the defense. It was about family.

The Red Sox signed Bogaerts as an international free agent on August 23, 2009. He was 16 years old.

At first, the Red Sox took care of Bogaerts. It wasn’t long before he himself became a mentor to Boston’s current star third baseman, Rafael Devers.

Bogaerts spent Thursday’s day off at a barbecue at Devers’ Boston-area residence.

As a late-season call-up in 2013, Bogaerts found his way into the lineup midway through the American League Championship Series and started all six games of the World Series victory over the Cardinals.

Interestingly, his most memorable moment came in one of two games the Red Sox lost in that Fall Classic. It was a game-tying single against Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal in the top of the eighth inning.

“I always considered it the biggest success of my career,” Bogaerts said.

Cora wasn’t around to have fun in 2013, so he had a different Bogaerts highlight to reflect on when asked Friday.

That would be the two-run homer that Bogaerts hammered against Gerrit Cole in the first inning of the 2021 AL Wild Card Game. Fenway Park was deafening after a base hit that led the Sox to a 6-2 victory over their rivals.

Even though it’s not his favorite, Bogaerts enjoyed remembering the moment.

“Probably the loudest I’ve heard Fenway, to be honest with you,” Bogaerts said. “Red Sox-Yankees, one game (to advance to the Division Series) and therefore it was probably the loudest.”

On Friday, Fenway once again spoke out in support of Bogaerts, who will always hold a special place in Red Sox Nation no matter what uniform he wears.