Workers scoured Fenway Park yesterday in preparation of Boston’s home opener today against Detroit. Mike Smith of Fenway Painters Inc., in Wilmington, Mass., paints numbers on the steps in the center field bleacher seats section.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — Red Sox manager Terry Francona sat in his newly renovated office in the clubhouse at Fenway Park yesterday and didn’t have to say a word because the pictures on the wall told the story of his tenure here.

There are five pictures hanging on the wall to the right side of his desk. The five photos — two from 2004 and three from 2007 — show his players celebrating a World Series victory. Just below those action shots were a half-dozen boxes of victory cigars — most likely empty.

It was only fitting, however, that he spoke so highly of his players yesterday and he hopes they enjoy today’s Opening Day ceremonies and ring presentation.

“I do want the players to take a deep breath and realize we’ve earned this,” said the manager. “They have the right to enjoy it. It’s awesome. For me, living through it was the best part.”

The World Series rings will arrive at Fenway Park by police escort at 6:15 this morning. The pregame ceremonies begin at 1 p.m. with the first pitch scheduled for 2:05. Red Sox players and their fans will get to enjoy one last celebration before the club continues its quest for a repeat.

The other nice aspect of today’s home-opener is the fact the Red Sox are back home after beginning the season on the road — a span of 19 days covering three countries. Boston is only seven games into the season with a 3-4 record and will host the 0-6 Detroit Tigers today.

“It’s nice to have some clean clothes,” said Francona. “It’ll be exciting to hopefully get rolling in the right direction, and doing it here. There will be a lot of emotion, and there should be. Hopefully we’ll turn that into playing some good clean baseball, because, ultimately, our whole day revolves around that.”

The Red Sox obviously had a long and arduous trip to start the season, so it was only fair the players were given yesterday off. Still, most made it to Fenway yesterday for a light workout and a little BP in the indoor cage. Dustin Pedroia, Clay Buchholz, Julian Tavarez, Manny Ramirez, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis were on hand.

While the players spent most of the morning getting their lockers situated, work continued on and around the ballpark in preparation for today’s game. The offseason improvements made at the storied facility are beginning to make it look more like a stadium than a park. An additional 875 seats have been added.

Red Sox chairman Tom Werner stood in the bitter cold near the home dugout yesterday afternoon and recalled the home-opener in 2005 — the season after the Red Sox erased 86 years of misery with a World Series championship — was a special one. He promised today’s celebration will be better.

“The park continues to be special and intimate,” said Werner. “I can’t wait for people to come. It’s going to be a great day. We have a lot of surprises. … Opening Days are great, but to combine it with a ring ceremony will be terrific.”

Werner did not want to give too much away, saying everyone will have goose bumps.

The team is tired. The team is happy to be home. The team is ready to celebrate its World Series celebration today. Then it will be business as usual.

“There’s no doubt there will be a lot of emotion,” said Francona. “We’ll be ready to go. The fans and the energy in this ballpark will go a long way to get us going.”

Today’s schedule of events at Fenway Park:

6:15 a.m. — World Series championship rings arrive at the park.

11 a.m. — Red Sox begin batting practice.

11:35 a.m. — Gates open.

Noon — Tigers begin batting practice.

1:15 p.m. — Pregame ceremonies, including presentation of 2007 championship rings, begin. Former players expected to participate include Royce Clayton and Doug Mirabelli.

Approximately 2 p.m. — National anthem performed by the Boston Pops.

2:05 p.m. — First pitch.

Pregame ceremonies will be televised on NESN.

jmcdonal@projo.com