BOSTON  Baseball’s schedule-makers create any number of twists in the course of a season. But on Thursday, they unintentionally outdid themselves. The Red Sox returned to action after the All-Star break one day before the Yankees did and as a result ended up honoring George Steinbrenner with a moment of silence before the Yankees could stage their own tribute in the Bronx on Friday.

The Red Sox’ tribute, which also saluted Bob Sheppard, the Yankees’ public-address announcer for more than half a century, created some unusual theater at Fenway Park.

Here were 37,000 mostly die-hard Red Sox fans in effect silenced one last time by Steinbrenner, whose Yankee teams had often prevailed over Boston in his 37 years as owner.

During the tribute, players from the Red Sox and the Texas Rangers stood in unison in front of their dugouts, their caps off, their heads bowed. A military honor guard marched out to center field. Images of both Steinbrenner and Sheppard rang out from the scoreboard.