Play Ball !!!

Posted about ten minutes before gametime, February 23, 2017

Red Sox vs. Northeastern University

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could look more excited, but this is what happens with my selfies. I had arrived about 90 minutes early, located my seat 10 rows behind the Red Sox dugout, already had a beer and a chicken cheesesteak sandwich, and then posted myself behind the dugout for the big moment when the Sox would take the field. I only witnessed Mgr. John Farrell  (red cap visible) poking his head out to speak to a photographer (below).

When I returned to my seat, the Red Sox took the field, led by Mookie Betts (below).  N.B. I bought a navy blue Mookie Betts T-shirt on my earlier visit to jetBlue Park, so I had a lot invested in him.

Here’s better shot of Mookie from the hot-off-the-press Red Sox Magazine:

He made two plate appearances, walked, and grounded into a force play.

The game was played in alternating sunshine, clouds and brief drizzle, exemplifying a rather spotty performance.

• The Red Sox third-tier pitching staff allowed six runs to a team that had an 0-3 record against other colleges in their own spring training games.
• The highly  touted Rafael Devers struck out, flied out, and threw away the potential game-ending ground ball in the ninth inning.
• Rusney Castillo failed to run out a ground ball, when he might have been safe at first base with a little hustle.

Still a few congratulations should be handed out to:

• Pablo Sandoval, for showing up about 30 pounds lighter, handling three chances at third base, and driving in a run with a double. The Panda is competing to be the front line third baseman
• Mitch Moreland, the new first baseman, who drove in the first three runs with a home run to right center. He is a big guy (6’2″ – 230) with a classic stance, looking good in a Red Sox uniform.
• Sam Travis, who drove in three more runs the next inning with a home run into the left field Monster seats. Probably won’t make the team right away, because he is an outfielder.
• Tessie, the mascot, who visited Section 106 in the mid-innings and entertained some young, potentially-bored children.

• And an honorable mention to a new face, Brian Bogusevic, who walked, singled sharply and looked pretty smooth in the field. The Sox Magazine says he has already played 321 games in the National League

After Devers threw away the potentially game-ending grounder, some pitcher named Buttrey retired the Huskies on one pitch, a ground ball to the second baseman. Below we see the mandatory post-game handshakes.

Maybe I expected too much from the first exhibition game, and I certainly did not see the best players on the team. Still, it was a mid-seventies, light and breezy day, and we sang “Sweet Caroline” in the seventh inning.

Even better, when my order of Mexican Tostados Nachos was delayed at Duffy’s Sportsbar, they comped my meal. I only had to pay for the beer, and that was a two-fer $7!

One more postscript: I had a grizzled working guy as a bar companion, and he told me his family had a summer place on Sebec Lake in Dover-Foxcroft, ME for many years. He knew Bowerbank, where my grandmother and maiden aunts lived forever, and we recalled quite a few landmarks we both knew. The odds of meeting someone in Fort Myers, FL who was associated with this town of about 7,000 people in northern Maine, are pretty steep. His name was Archie.