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There’s something in the air this September, something I haven’t felt in a long time: the unmistakable feeling that Boston is a baseball town again.

We’re lucky to have four legendary sports franchises, but only one can be the team in the city at any one moment. And for years, the arrival of September was confirmation that this was a football town. And why wouldn’t it be? It was so, so good for so, so long.

Even after Tom Brady left the Patriots, we still had Bill Belichick. At least that’s what we told ourselves, until it became painfully apparent that it really was all Brady. Still, each year, as summer gave way to fall, there was buzz about a new quarterback, a new coach, a new something to hold onto. Because the only other game in town each September, the Red Sox, had become painfully blah.

Not this year. Everywhere I look, there’s buzz about a young, quirky Sox team.

I confess, I haven’t been paying close attention to the Red Sox in recent years. Actually, that’s a lie; I haven’t cared since 2004. I’m from the generation that grew up devoted to Red Sox heartbreak. I was 10 years old in 1986, and can remember my parents waking me up on the couch one fateful October night to make sure I saw something they never thought they’d see in their lifetime. And then the ball rolled through Bill Buckner’s legs.

As painful as that night was, it was the start of a story, and anyone who followed that story knows it had the most incredible ending ever in 2004.

It was as complete as an ending could be. Which is why when the Sox won the World Series again in 2007, and 2013, and 2018, it was very exciting, but not the same. The original was so good that the sequels could never compete. And the Brady years at the Patriots felt like a single story that we needed to see through, for it never stopped being electric.

And here we are in 2025, where the Patriots story feels complete. They are back in the trough from whence they came. But the Red Sox feel new, a fresh story with quirky characters.

Are they the wild Sox of ’04, filled with Main Characters? Absolutely not. But they are a group of players with an interesting combination of intensity and a charming looseness that has endeared them to fans so desperate for hope.

Funny walk-up songs. Donning the Wally head after a home run. Jarren Duran (and other players) spending hours after games at Fenway signing autographs on the street. (And hundreds of excited fans lining up on Van Ness Street.) An aging closer who throws the ball like he’s mad at it. A young superstar who dazzled the crowd before he got injured. A veteran third baseman, Alex Bregman, so nerdy about the game that he gives advice to the pitchers. And, most importantly, they’re winning. Well, most of the time.

I’m a story guy, and we’ve been so fortunate to have great storylines with all our big Boston teams recently.

But we needed a new story. And it arrived from the most unexpected of places, a team whose ownership, ahem, has spent the last several years getting rid of all the players we loved.

There is a fresh feeling on Yawkey Way, one you can feel from the stands of that old ballpark. Yet there is one thing about all Red Sox stories that will never change, and that is the bad guys we must defeat. And on cue, the evil empire, the New York Yankees, arrive in town tonight for a weekend series, one where we are virtually tied in the standings with a playoff berth at stake.

There is nothing like meaningful September baseball when Boston feels like a baseball town. I’d forgotten what that feels like, but it’s here now, familiar and fresh at the same time. I’ve been sucked into the story by this group of knuckleheads. We’ll see how they handle a routine groundball when our hearts are once again on the line.

🧩 3 Down: Proclamation | ☀️ 71° Bright blue skies

People honored Massachusetts victims of the Sept. 11 attacks in the Boston Public Garden yesterday.David L Ryan/ Globe Staff

Sept. 11: Massachusetts residents whose loved ones died in the hijacked planes that hit the World Trade Center 24 years ago marked the anniversary in a ceremony outside the State House.

Trump vs. Harvard: Some Harvard scientists who have had to lay off staff and halt studies are open to a settlement between the school and the administration to restore federal research funding.

Profit motive: County-run jails in New Hampshire are in talks with ICE about housing immigration detainees, a bid to turn the agency’s crackdown on New England into a source of revenue.

Demographic shifts: New US Census Bureau data shows how Boston’s racial makeup changed between 2023 and 2024. More residents identified as Hispanic or Asian, while the Black share fell slightly.

Growing pains: Nearly two years after MassHealth started covering doula services for Medicaid members, the state has built a racially and linguistically diverse doula network. But low reimbursement rates and limited oversight remain challenges.

Beautification: The Lynn waterfront was a (literal) dump. Now it’s a park, part of an initiative to develop the city’s coastline.

New rules: Senate Republicans voted to change the chamber’s rules to make it easier to confirm Trump’s nominees, whom Democrats have blocked to protest the administration’s actions. (Politico)

Trump vs. the Fed: The administration asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the central bank’s board of governors by Monday, before the Fed’s next meeting. (AP) Fed officials seem likely to lower rates to aid the labor market at the risk of worsening inflation, which accelerated last month in part because of Trump’s tariffs. (CNBC)

Brazil: The country’s Supreme Court convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro of attempting a coup after he lost the 2022 election, sentencing him to 27 years in prison. (NYT 🎁)

Charlie Kirk’s legacy: He could be controversial, even among Republicans. But his commitment to talking with those who held different views offers a model for confronting the evil that cut his life short, columnist Carine Hajjar writes.

Not down in any map: Tourist attractions that bank on a capacity for awe are struggling. So how does the quiet, mustard-color Pittsfield house where Herman Melville wrote “Moby-Dick” keep garnering rave reviews? Rob Kaiser went there to find out.

By Teresa Hanafin

🎥 Big, dopey fun: There aren’t many truly good movies about rock ‘n’ roll, but these 10 are really enjoyable.

💘 Blind date: They both like to chit-chat, so the conversation flowed easily. But did they talk themselves into a second date?

👵🏻 Act your age: At MIT, this reporter put on ankle weights, bungee cords, and foam-padded Crocs to simulate what it’s like to go through life as an 80-year-old. (WSJ 🎁)

📺 More about the Emmys: If you like to see nominated shows before the awards gala, here are five series that are worth streaming this weekend.

🏈 Fair or unfair? Dan Shaughnessy says it feels like every Patriots game now is a referendum on second-year quarterback Drake Maye.

Thanks for reading Starting Point.

This newsletter was edited by Teresa Hanafin.

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Billy Baker can be reached at billy.baker@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @billy_baker.