For some, opening day at Fenway might mean watching Dustin Pedroia hit one out of the park, or eating peanuts and Cracker Jack. But for three area residents, the game on Monday marks a 50-year tradition of attending home openers as best friends.

It was 1968 when Mike Noonan, Ken O’Brien and Bruce Niemczyk went to their first opening game together, the year after the Red Sox played the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. The trio bought grandstand tickets for $2.50.

As 15-year-old high school sophomores, they took a Peter Pan bus to Boston, then figured out the subway to get to Fenway. When the game was rained out, Noonan, O’Brien and Niemczyk returned the next day to watch the Red Sox play.

“If it wasn’t for the ’67 Red Sox, who won the pennant and went to the World Series, we probably wouldn’t have gone to the game,” Noonan said.

The rest is history.

After making their first trek to Fenway, the three friends began to attend more Red Sox games together. Noonan would frequently travel to Boston while O’Brien and Niemczyk were both attending Northeastern University in the early 1970s. Then, they could get bleacher tickets for a dollar.

Over the years, their friendship has only grown stronger. None of them predicted, when they met in homeroom at John F. Kennedy Middle School, that they would be best man in each other’s weddings, or godfathers to each other’s children.

“We’re actually kind of like brothers, really,” Niemczyk said.

Brothers who share many memories of major league baseball. They recall seeing Tony Conigliaro’s comeback in 1969 after recovering from injury and again in 1975 after returning to the Red Sox.

Noonan, O’Brien and Niemczyk were certainly dedicated to keeping their now 50-year streak. They’ve all missed school and work to attend the home openers over the years.

Out of 49 opening games, they left only one early, because it was pouring and they thought it would get rained out. Aside from that one game in 1981, the friends have been at every home opener, rain or shine.

Early on, Noonan would call in October to order tickets in advance for the big opening day game. In 1987, he started getting season tickets, for box seats by the third-base dugout, where the three sat until recent years.

For the 20th anniversary of their opening day tradition, Noonan, O’Brien and Niemczyk rode to Fenway in a limousine with Milton Cole, sports writer at the Daily Hampshire Gazette. This year, for the 50th anniversary, they plan to take a limo with Pat Goggins of Goggins Real Estate.

The most exciting opening game was in 1998, Noonan said. The Red Sox were way behind. Going into the ninth inning, the score was 7-2. At the bottom of the ninth inning, Mo Vaughn hit a grand slam, winning the game.

‘Background music’

Even more than the games themselves, O’Brien remembers the good times the trio has shared.

While they were waiting for the bus, the three would often venture into a souvenir shop by Fenway, where they became friends with the owners, the D’Angelo family. That family went on to found the famous sports apparel brand ’47.

“I remember stuff like that more than I remember the games,” O’Brien said as he told stories of past home openers. “The games are like background music.”

Noonan, a huge Red Sox fan, never misses a game. Whether from the stands at Fenway or from the television at home, Noonan watches every game of the season. “He watches every pitch,” O’Brien said with a laugh.

“It’s my passion,” Noonan said. But the opening games, he acknowledged, are mainly about friendship.

“It’s much more about being friends than just going to a baseball game,” O’Brien said. “The games are cool, but our friendship is why we really show up.”

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