Center Field: Good Things Come In Threes
I’m shaking off the post-clinch stupor I’ve been walking around in for the last week or so with a trio of lovely Red Sox awesomeness.
First up: Dusty Brown gets his first major league hit… which also turns out to be his first major league home run – and receives the time-honored cold shoulder routine from his teammates in the dugout. That little prank never gets old, especially for a career minor-leaguer like Dusty- who may never get a spotlight like that again. Screencaps by Thomas, as always.
1st major league home run, huh rookie? Eh, big deal.
Okay...Big deal!!
Alex Speier wrote a great article for WEEI about Dusty’s long and winding road through the minors, here’s an excerpt:
Brown showed early promise in his pro career, but in part due to a succession of injuries, his progress was up-and-down, and his movement up the ladder was thus deliberate. He saw one Sox prospect after another zoom past him on the way to the majors, playing with such talents as Delcarmen, Brandon Moss, Hanley Ramirez, Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon as they marched towards the majors.
There were times of frustration. But nine years into his career as a member of the Red Sox, Brown – who had batted just once since making his big-league debut as a defensive replacement this year – achieved a milestone at the major-league level.
In the bottom of the eighth inning of the Red Sox’ 11-6 win over the Indians on Saturday, Brown crushed a changeup from Indians reliever Mike Gosling. The ball sailed over the Wall and crashed in the last row of the Monster Seats for the 27-year-old’s first career hit and first career homer. The Fenway crowd of 37,562 chanted the catcher’s name – Dus-ty, Dus-ty, Dus-ty – until his teammates pushed him out of the dugout to accept a curtain call.
“It’s unbelievable, man,” said Brown. “Not many guys can say that: at Fenway Park, to get a curtain call from the fans, there’s nothing like it. I’ll remember it forever.”
Before the game against the Indians on Sunday, the Red Sox called four members of the team out onto the field to be recognized for record-breaking seasons: Big Papi (major league record for home runs by a DH), Jonathan Papelbon (Red Sox record for career saves), Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox record for stolen bases in a season) and Tim Wakefield (Red Sox record for games started). Here’s video of the ceremony – with special appearances by Tommy Harper, Bob Stanley, Luis Tiant and Jim Rice.
And finally, the team headed out to Anaheim a little early this week to take some practice at and acclimate to Angel Stadium. This happy circumstance – plus several empty days of a photo wire that needs filling – means that we’re treated to photos of the team goofing around in Cali. More specifically, it means we’re treated to this photo:
This is CRYING OUT for a caption contest.