BOSTON – The night of July 26 was a wild one at Fenway Park, one in which the Red Sox came storming back from a 3-0 deficit against emerging ace Spencer Strider and beat the best team in baseball, the Atlanta Braves, 5-3. 

It turns out this evening was special before it even started. 

The Red Sox held their first official Disability Pride Night (formally known as Disability Awareness Night) and it included one of the most unique and meaningful fan giveaways in MLB history. 

Those fans who purchased tickets via the special Disability Pride Night invitation received a one-of-a-kind Red Sox hat that had a hanging Sox logo with the disability pride flag and raised embroidery braille spelling out “Red Sox” on the brim.

It is believed to be the first time an MLB team has put raised embroidered braille on a souvenir hat. 

On Sept. 18, 2018, the Orioles had braille printed on their uniforms. 

This gift from the Red Sox was something fans could bring home with them and hold close to their hearts.

“Our fans loved them,” said Michael Lara, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging manager for the Red Sox. “We even ordered 200 more just for other fans that were interested and employees that wanted them.”

Lara said 544 guests purchased tickets for Disability Pride Night in addition to 200-plus community partners who attended specifically for the event.

One of the best parts of the event was the presence of the Boston Renegades, who are part of the Beep Baseball League.

For those unfamiliar with Beep Baseball, it is for athletes who are visually impaired but can play with the help of the ball beeping and many other sounds related to it.

A handful of Renegades proudly walked onto the field at Fenway Park and were just several feet from Red Sox players who were warming up for the game.

One member of the Renegades, David Sanchez, threw out a ceremonial first pitch.

“We had folks go out onto the field, and there were three or four different pitchers who threw the ball at the same time,” said Lara. “The employee resource group as well as the community partners stood in like a half-circle around the first pitch folks and kind of just offered space for support."

Representatives from Adaptive Sports New England and the Massachusetts Special Olympics also participated in first-pitch ceremonies.

Fittingly, this night at Fenway Park took place on the 33rd anniversary of the signing of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

This is part of an ongoing initiative for the Red Sox to be as inclusive as possible to everyone.

“It is similar to when we do Pride Night or the Juneteenth ceremony,” said Lara. “Disability pride was huge this year, the biggest we’ve had, even compared to our previous disability awareness nights.”

The Red Sox play in America’s oldest Major League ballpark, creating certain limitations for people with disabilities. But Lara and a host of others with the club are doing what they can to bridge that gap.

“We’re trying to enhance things related to our accessibility with such an old ballpark,” said Lara. “We know we have some limitation, so things that we can’t do with physical space we try to supplement with programmatic pieces. Things like making sure there’s enough ADEA seating, making sure we’re welcoming folks that might need mobility assistance, that they know those people [who can help] are on speed dial.

“All of these things, even related to sensory needs -- there are opportunities here that maybe people don’t know about, and I think it was really super positively highlighted during Disability Pride Night.”