John Williams, the renowned film composer known for his iconic scores, will be honored at Fenway Park on Wednesday with the inaugural John Williams Night. The event will feature a performance of some of his most celebrated works by the Boston Pops, highlighting the long-standing connection between Williams, baseball, and the city of Boston. A commemorative bobblehead that plays his music will also be part of the festivities.

Williams, who is 94 years old, has had a lifelong affinity for baseball, a passion that often rivaled his interest in movies. Raised in Queens, New York, he was drawn more to playing the game than watching films during his childhood. His early years were marked by afternoons playing baseball with a glove in hand, an experience he likened to his work in music. Williams, who has collaborated on 30 films with director Steven Spielberg, has compared conducting an orchestra to pitching in baseball, reflecting on the sense of shared memory both disciplines evoke.

Having grown up attending games at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan with his father, Williams later introduced his own children to baseball at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Yet, it was Fenway Park that held a special place in his imagination, largely due to his mother, Esther Williams. A Boston native born in 1909, Esther often spoke about Fenway, instilling in John a deep emotional connection to the ballpark and the Red Sox. Williams described Fenway as “the beating, pounding heart” of Boston, embodying the spirit of the city alongside its academic and historic landmarks.

Throughout his tenure as conductor of the Boston Pops, an role Williams once likened to being “the mayor of Boston,” he frequently attended Red Sox games, sometimes accompanied by colleagues such as the late conductor Seiji Ozawa. The two shared a friendship grounded in their mutual love of baseball and occasionally conducted the national anthem together at Fenway. In a notable gesture of friendship, Williams visited the ailing Ozawa in Japan in 2023, bringing Red Sox memorabilia as gifts.

Williams’s affinity for baseball extended beyond fandom. Though he largely stopped playing competitively during his Air Force service in the 1950s to protect his piano-playing hands, he retained his throwing ability, famously tossing out the first pitch at Fenway in 2003 during a game against the New York Yankees. His arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner” debuted at Game 1 of the 2007 World Series, which featured the Red Sox competing against the Colorado Rockies.

In 2012, Williams composed “Fanfare for Fenway” to mark the 100th anniversary of the ballpark, performed live during a game by a brass ensemble and percussion. His music has frequently underscored Red Sox celebrations, including ring ceremonies and the presentation of championship banners. Williams has often expressed the belief that both music and baseball connect people through a shared sense of history and nostalgia. Reflecting on Fenway, he noted that when empty, the stadium feels like a cathedral, filled with the echoes of past moments and the presence of countless fans.

The upcoming celebration at Fenway Park marks a recognition of Williams as not only a cultural icon but also an enduring part of Boston’s baseball and musical heritage.