Beckett won't have any opening jitters

Sitting in a news conference room at Fenway Park yesterday, David Ortiz pondered why he loves playing in this ballpark in this city and came to this conclusion.

''Baseball," he said, ''is a game, you need to have attitude, you need to have confidence, people who you know have your back. That's one thing I have here in Boston, so many people right behind you, wishing you the best, people who send you a lot of blessing. There's no way you don't feel like playing baseball.

''I keep telling the new guys. Wait until you play your first game at Fenway. You might need a diaper."

Today, several Red Sox will wear the home white at Fenway for the first time, in the ancient but updated park's 95th opener. There may be one or more players weak in the knees, but do not expect Josh Beckett to be one.

In 2003, he took the ball as the Marlins' Opening Day starter, a privilege he enjoyed again in 2004 and 2005. In '05, he blanked Atlanta for six innings, allowing only two hits. In '04, against the Expos, he went seven innings, allowing one run on four hits. Back in '03, against the Phillies, he lasted just 3 2/3 innings, with seven runs scoring, but only two earned. That year, in six postseason appearances spanning 42 2/3 innings, he compiled a 2.11 ERA, 47 strikeouts, and 12 walks.

The point? When the stage is his, he's embraced it.

''Josh has got the stuff to thrive in any city," said Brad Arnsberg, Beckett's former pitching coach in Florida who will be in the other dugout today, as Toronto's pitching coach. ''I think he'll really like his time in Boston. He's a big-game pitcher, loves great crowds, and he's got tremendous stuff."

Mike Lowell, Beckett's Marlins teammate on all of those Opening Days and postseason dates, agreed, saying, ''I like the opportunity he has, being in a big market. If he can shine it's going to be magnified."

Al Leiter, who pitched in Florida's rotation with Beckett for part of last season, said that of the ex-Marlins pitchers the Sox and Blue Jays landed this winter, Beckett and A.J. Burnett, respectively, Beckett has the better sense of what he wants to do on the mound.

''Watching those two young guys when I was with the Mets, A.J. pitched one day, Josh the next day," Leiter said. ''Mike Piazza used to say Josh is much tougher. He's very unpredictable. He would throw a changeup in any count, an explosive fastball. A.J. has the better fastball but less command and less of an idea of what he's trying to do with his offspeed pitches."

Beckett today will have more eyes on him than any pitcher ever to walk to the Fenway mound on Opening Day. The park will hold 38,805, up from 36,298.

The Sox went just 7-11 vs. Toronto last season. Some head-to-head totals from those 18 games, unearthed by statistician Chuck Waseleski: Toronto hit .347 with runners in scoring position, the Sox .278. Toronto's starters went 7-4 with a 4.46 ERA, Boston's 4-6 with a 6.32 ERA. Toronto's relievers were 4-3 with a 3.34 ERA, Boston's 3-5 with a 6.24 ERA. Toronto sent eight or more batters to the plate in an inning 14 times against the Sox, while the Sox did it to the Jays three times. The Jays won three times in their last at-bat, the Sox twice . . . Josh Towers starts today for the Blue Jays. Trot Nixon (9 for 18, 2 HRs) has owned Towers. Manny Ramírez is just 5 for 21 (.238) but three of his five hits have left the park. Jason Varitek is 0 for 9 with 2 walks and 3 K's.

A rundown of today's pregame festivities, scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.: Introductions of the Blue Jays and Red Sox, a moment of silence in memory of Curt Gowdy, the Canadian and US national anthems (the latter performed by 5-year-old Jimmy Fund patient Jordan Leandre of Dennis), a flyover of A-10 jets, and the ceremonial first pitch. Participating in the first-pitch ceremony will be six members of the 1946 American League champion team: Bobby Doerr, Eddie Pellagrini, Dave ''Boo" Ferriss, Johnny Pesky, and two 93-year-olds, Charlie Wagner, and Don Gutteridge. Wagner, who debuted with the Sox in 1938, will give the ''play ball" command . . . The Sox' record for an Opening Day crowd is 35,343, established in 1969 vs. Baltimore . . . Today will mark the Sox' 227th consecutive sellout, second only in league history to the 455-game run at Cleveland's Jacobs Field (1995-2001). Given the park's increased capacity, the Sox surely will set an attendance record this year for the seventh consecutive season . . . Though Fenway will continue billing itself as the oldest and smallest park in the majors, that isn't technically accurate. The Oakland A's, in an attempt to increase ticket demand, have covered the third deck of the Coliseum, reducing capacity this season to 34,077.