Interview #46: Fenway Grounds Crew
Kyle Flanagan on his time dragging the infield, his fear of the tarp, and cannabis
Intro
Kyle Flanagan is currently a member of the Boston Red Sox grounds crew at Fenway Park. Of all the places to get to work during a baseball season, Fenway has to be a top 3 place. It opened in 1912. For 112 years, this American cathedral has been the backdrop for pages and pages of baseball history. Tris Speaker, who hit the most doubles in MLB history, played here from 1912 to 1915. Babe Ruth pitched on this mound from 1914 to 1919. Ted Williams hit 248 home runs here in the 40’s and 50’s when he wasn’t taking breaks to fly combat missions. Carl Yazstremski and Jim Rice played all-star baseball in this vast outfield during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Nomar patrolled shortstop in the 90’s. Pedro dominated on the mound and Big Papi blasted homers over the bullpen in the 2000’s. And Bobby Dalbec played here in the 2020’s.
The dimensions remain the same. It’s the same 90 feet between bases that it was back then. That’s 112 years of having to maintain a surface worthy of the Hall of Famers playing on it. Things have come a long way since 1912. Want to see what a lawnmower looked like back then?
Anyways, these days the technology and science that goes into keeping baseball fields looking like the slices of heaven that they are has come far. But it still takes a lot of manual labor and long hours. So I was excited when Kyle messaged me back to do an interview about his career on the grounds crew and some of the things that people might not know about it. His enthusiasm for baseball, the job and life in general made for a fascinating insight to this important but overlooked part of the sport.
We also talked about playing baseball and his main career as a cannabis wholesale rep. First we were delayed an hour due to a strenuous hike.
Working at Fenway
Where were you hiking?
So we got a little mountain, it's called Wachusett Mountain. Which, technically speaking, actually not a real mountain. It's a hill with dirt on top of it. The feet don't actually hit above sea level, so they took a construction company and there's a sand mound. And that is now officially considered a mountain. It's really funny actually.
Well, that must have been a challenging hike.
You know, man, I'm not as in shape as I once was, so any hike’s a challenging hike, that's for sure.
You gotta work pretty hard, though. 81 days a year, right?
I'll tell you, that is a workout in itself right there.
So how did you get onto the Fenway grounds crew? That’s gotta be a pretty sought after gig.
I'll tell you, you would assume it is one of the most hard jobs to get. It's a seasonal job in Boston. So right off the bat, if you're from that area, you probably can't do it full time. The grounds crew consists, about 70 to 80%, it's part time. We're all doing that as our second job. The way it works is it's two shifts. You have your morning crew; those are the people that are fixing up the lines, fixing the mound, doing all the bullpens, they're cleaning up all of the trash from the night before, all the cleat marks. And then you got your game crew sweeping the lines, doing the field right as the game, 3th, 5th, 7th (innings) and then whatever extra innings.
Once people work the job, they're like, whoa, this is a JOB. It's a lot of physical labor. It's a lot of picking stuff up and putting stuff down. Since you’re grounds crew, it’s a lot of rain. The tarp is our enemy. So once people see that, a lot of people are one-and-done. I'll tell you, it's a very easy job to get. And once you're there, you're in the nooks and crannies that no one in Fenway will see. The way it works is you're in left field, you're under the stands. So we can hear the swaying going on. And then there's Canvas Alley where we all sit. You can see when they open the gate, we're all on a bench together.
There's a lot of cards playing, a lot of talking, waiting, but you never know who you're gonna see. Like Pedro (Martinez) is the man. He is someone who understands where he came from and he shows respect. Unfortunately, in the industry there are some people that are… like there has been certain Red Sox players in the past, like [redacted] was one who told the grounds crew, ‘Don't even look at me.’
Wow.
There are certain people that just don't respect the people at the job because they look at themselves as above. So when you come across people like Jason Varitek, David Ortiz, who say hello. When Mitch Moreland was on the baseball team, he bought the whole grounds crew tacos. These are people who don't forget about us and they think about the little guys, too. It makes you root for them so much more as players because you see the player and then you see the person.
Which shift do you do the most, the morning or the gametime?
My first year, I was actually there during COVID. So there was not a single fan in the stands and they had crowd noise. So that was my first year and so I elected to do morning crew. You would have to be there at 7:00 AM, and if it rained the night before, you had to tarp. You had to be there at sunshine, so you're getting there at 6, 6:30. And then if it rains, even while it's an off day, if it's raining, you still have to put the tarp on the field and you still have to empty and dump the tarp.
After I understood where it was a lot of prepping, I wanted to watch the baseball games, so I chose to do night crew afterwards. Night crew, you show up an hour before the game. You break down BP. Both teams are in the dugouts. You give one final combover of the field, you make the lines look pristine. That's what I pride myself in. When I have a night off and watch a baseball game and you see the work you did, it feels good.
So you're basically on-call then? Because if it does rain, they're going, ‘hey, get over here ASAP.’
Yeah. They'll be like, ‘hey, there's a chance of rain.’ And I'm talking like, there's a 5% chance of rain, they want you there. Because (Red Sox senior director of grounds) Dave Mellor does not mess around. He is one of the most respected in the game. He has documentaries on him. There's a reason why he is so respected. If there's even a chance of rain, they have people on standby that, you don't need to do all the work that everyone else was going to do, but if we need help pulling tarp, please help us pull tarp.
It gets heavy if it's downpouring. You're getting screamed at, and understandably so because it's chaos. Torrential downpour, you got people running out with 20-lb bags of Turface, dumping them out. You have to zigzag and then you got somebody tamping the mound. You see people bumping into each other running around. So it's chaos. Once you get it done and you throw the tarp on the field, you're like, ‘OK, it's done.’ But then the real fun happens. You gotta get back out there, dump the tarp and roll it up. You got to do it quick. You're on a timeline.
Which is tougher, pulling it out or rolling it back up?
Rolling it back up because I think you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. You know what I mean? When you're pulling it, I don't know how long this is going to be on for. If I'm going to be wholeheartedly honest with you, I pull the tarp and I'm hoping the tarp stays on. Like, I don't want to get wet anymore.
Socks are your biggest necessity, an extra pair. There is nothing worse than 2 AM, driving home from an extra inning game that went into the 17th inning and you only have one pair of socks, and now you're just shaking cold on the way home. So that is the biggest thing I've learned. Always keep an extra pair of socks.
Have you seen someone eaten by the tarp?
Of course I have. Basically you get eaten by the tarp, you're going under. That's it. No ifs, ands or buts. You can't stop. You stop, you screw up everything. The momentum goes. Poor gal, a couple of years ago, she just slipped right on it. You saw the panic, but the best thing was she didn't try to jump out. She just rode the tarp. And unfortunately, you're going to get drenched because all of that water is on you and you're doing the spin cycle. But yeah, it happens. It's a slippery tarp, a lot of us will slip. But getting eaten? Yep, it's happened quite a few times. And you gotta watch it, there's always a hot mic or camera there. So someone always has camera footage of something.
So there's footage of you getting eaten?
Not I. As much as the tarp was fun, I would always look to see if I could do pipes. So the two big things on tarp is you tarp it and then you put pipes on there so the water stays on. If you have the tarp and nothing else, and you pull it, all the water is just going to go elsewhere. So I would rush to the pipes and I would grab like 10 pipes and watch them do the tarp and be like, ‘oh, I'm so sorry, guys, I’m doing the pipes.’ So I wasn't on the tarp as much. Definitely slipped on it many times, gotten soaked stepping in puddles, but I have not gotten eaten, luckily.
Sounds like you're afraid of getting eaten by the tarp.
It's something that would hurt the ego a little bit because that's a grounds crew that won't let you forget anything. They're very good at reminding you of certain things. It's very much a bust-your-balls atmosphere, if you will. So there's a lot of jokes. There has been somebody who's made it on the Not Top 10 ESPN reels, so ideally I don't want that either.
If I walked in there for a game and I sat next to your buddies there, what would they tell me was your most embarrassing moment on the crew?
I missed drag one time. Drag is essential. It is so important. The 3rd inning, the 5th inning and the 7th inning, you have 5 people and you go in a row and you're doing rakes and you're dragging. You got to stay in line because it really does make a difference, because you don't want divots. Dustin Pedroia, he would tell you how he wanted his field. OK, so there are people that are very, very vocal about how they want it, so you gotta live up to their standards.
A pitcher got a ball right back to him. We were clearing out the alley to get a medical cart because they didn't know if they had to go take the cart. Well, the pitcher got hit, the ball went over, they got the out. It was the third out of the inning. It's like bang, bang, bang. Third out. You gotta go, gate opens, you're running. I was helping move the equipment trying to clear the way and I turned around and there was only four people running on the field, so it looked a little goofy. I was quite embarrassed. I've been told it happens to people. My boss was very less than thrilled, rightfully so. That was not one of my greatest moments.
It got repaired 2 innings later, at least.
Yeah, it did. There was a 5, I was on the 5th, next one.
It doesn't get super hot in Boston, but you have the whole range of weather. Are there different protocols in different seasons? The freezing early months, that's gotta suck. That's gotta be really cold at the start.
The biggest part is they have interns. So they have interns from all over the country. I love meeting some of the kids who've never seen snow before. You get kids from South Carolina, kids fresh out of high school, kids from Arizona. And they're just like, what is this? Where some of them are like, I'm not interning here again. And you're like, OK, next time you probably want to go to the Angels.
But you got a lot of interns. They have to answer the call because they're getting paid for, they're getting room and board, they're right next to the stadium. So those guys are always on call. One year it snowed before a game and they had to cancel the game, and we were shoveling snow at the time.
The grass is a living organism. The biggest protocol that people don't understand is like I was saying, if you tarp the night before, you need to be there for sunrise because the second that sun gets in the sky and it's hitting the tarp, it can cause disease on the field. It is a living, breathing organism. The heat can cause all that and you got to get the tarp off the field right away because you're just insulating it and you could do all sorts of mold. That's one of the biggest things I was like, Oh my God, I never thought about this. So if it rains the night before and you tarp, you know you're there the next morning, 6:00 AM.
Do you ever mow?
You have your select people who've been there, I'm talking like lifers that have been there longer than I've been alive. There's one person who religiously, strictly, he's the bullpen guy. You see him on TV all the time. He runs the jackets to and from the closers and stuff like that. That's grounds crew. But in 2004, when there was a fight in the, I don't know if it's 2004 or 2003, but there's a fight in the bullpens against the Red Sox and Yankees. And it was because one of the grounds crew was waving a Red Sox flag, and he was in the Yankees bullpen because we take care of the bullpens. He was raising the flag and it got ‘em so mad, he got into a fistfight with one of the Yankees players. I do not work with that person, as I'm sure he got let go.
So there are certain people who, they just know it like the back of their hands, so they mow. Certain people will always hose, because they have it a certain way. My postgame job, I did lines a lot because you're just tearing them up with cleats. So there's a 13, 14, 15, 16-score game, those third baselines are absolutely shredded, so you're sitting there the second the game ends, they're doing their postgame interview and you're tamping, you're tamping down the line, you're filling anything up. And then the next day, that's when they really redo the lines.
Is there a seniority thing where certain jobs, the new guy gets? What's the job you don't want to do?
So clay chunks, that was definitely something I was on a lot. And Dave will tell you, no matter what, every job is a valuable job. You take a bucket and you're just walking around Fenway, and you're walking around the pitcher’s mound and you're just picking up clay chunks. You're always the last person off the field. So you watch bullpens, they go first. Bullpens are the sought after, that's the postgame job you want. It's tamp, roll, tarp them, get out of there, and they usually leave you juices, snacks, Gatorades. They're usually pretty cool, so they'll leave you stuff.
You have lines, which usually takes a long time. Then you have two people inside that are doing the circles in the infield. So seniority plays a huge part of it. Canvas Alley, as I mentioned earlier, Canvas Alley is a little crevice that we all sit in, and seniority they sit in the front so they can actually see the field and the game. If you're new, you sit in the back; you're not really seeing the field. You get plenty of time to see the field because you work so many games, there's just going to be games where people are just kind of burnt out. But like Red Sox-Yankees, if it were a close game and the Red Sox were in the playoff hunt, good chance you're getting the back. There's TV's and stuff on the inside, but generally what happens, we'll sneak to other sections, and we're decked out in Red Sox employee gear, so no one's gonna bother us, but we'll go into other sections and we'll watch the game.
So you have access to places that people rarely see.
Yeah, I would eat lunch in the Monster. During COVID we had either a 30-minute, an hour break, depending on the day and I'd go grab my food. They're very like, let's eat together and I like a little bit of my personal time to decompress. I'm a big camaraderie guy doing stuff with the team, but sometimes I do like to wind down. And so I would always take the time to sit in the Monster and it was just surreal. Like you couldn’t name a better place to eat lunch every day.
Is there really a bathroom in there?
In the Monster, yes.
Is that where Manny Ramirez went that one time?
Yeah, he was notorious for going in there.
What's one of the coolest parts about Fenway that people wouldn't see normally?
I really, I don't even know what it's called, but during my orientation, we were in the room above home plate. And that was really incredible because you get the bird's eye view from behind. My favorite place that people could probably see is, it's also behind home plate and it's standing, and it's right when you come out there's this little ledge and it's standing room and I think it's the best view. Whenever Chris Sale would come back, for first pitch I would always stand right there. It is such a cool atmosphere, you see everything. The Monster is awesome, but you don't see everything. The Monster’s very restricted; like if it's hit in right field and you're at an angle, you can't see the ball. Or if it's a pop up and it drops under the Monster, you have no idea if they catch it.
They've made the playoffs since while you've been working there, right?
One time, and we got to game six against the Astros (in the 2021 ALCS).
Is there something different about working a playoff game as far as prep?
Superstitions. Once you get into that atmosphere, that headspace, you're not allowed to say certain things. The biggest thing as a grounds crew, now this isn't necessarily just playoffs, but in general, you never, ever, ever talk about pace of play or weather. You never do it. The second you are saying, ‘wow, this game is just moving by so fast,’ a rain delay happens. That's number one.
Number two is, every year, the grounds crew found green mantises out in the field during the playoffs, they won a World Series. Again, the superstitions on all-time high. You know what to say. You know what not to say. You don't put any bad juju in the air, right? You keep it positive. So the superstitions, doesn't matter who you are, what position you do, whether you're a baseball player, you’re grounds crew, you’re cafeteria; you know what to say and what not to say.
How long do you think you're going to do this for? You have a separate career going, right?
So the beautiful thing about this job is, it's a seasonal on-call job that they ask you when you can work. And I would send a monthly schedule and they were wonderful, they always honored it. Lately I haven't gotten to work as much because I've been pursuing a full-time career and it's been taking off, so I had to take a step back. But the thing is, there are people who take hiatuses and then they'll come right back. The opportunity is always there, so they always leave the door open. So as long as they'll have me, I would always be putting in as much help as I can when I can.
It’s a lot of moving parts to maintain a baseball field. And just like the game itself, it’s a lot of waiting around and then bursts of action. His boss, David Mellor is one of the tops in the industry. He has a few books published and done many interviews. Here is his library: David R. Mellor.
And looking around the league, Fenway has to be one of the tougher fields to work. You start the season as the ground just starts to thaw and get through a hot, humid summer before ending in chilly October air (well, September this year😉). With the increasing use of abominations of stadiums under roofs and using artificial turf, we’ve gotta enjoy these gorgeous expanses of Kentucky bluegrass under the brilliant summer sun while we can. (Oakland moving from Rickey Henderson field to an artificially cooled turf in Sacramento next year is just one more injustice).
Cannabis and The Future of that Industry
So your other career, you’re a sales rep?
Cannabis wholesale rep. Baseball and cannabis go quite well. Weirdly enough, Fenway is one of the, there was a map that they did and they did the rankings, and Fenway was the closest to any dispensary of any ballpark in the country because there is a dispensary that's connected to Fenway. Fenway is a whole area. You have Fenway Park, but then you have Fenway and Fenway is owned by John Henry and Fenway Sports Group. So you have a bunch of outlets and there's a dispensary right next to one of them. That's my career. Cannabis and baseball.
Do you have an education in that field?
Absolutely. I'm highly versed in it. I started like a lot of people did, as just a kid doing it. And then I realized when I worked in it for years like, God, it helps a lot of people. The walks of life that come in, it's always someone's grandma or someone’s aunt that tells you like, years of just bad sleep, or chemotherapy that just destroys any appetite and they can finally just eat a meal, or you hear about people in hospice that, again, they're in these treatments and they're just deflated. And then they actually can interact with their family and you hear these stories that, it really turns what you thought it was, and that's exactly it. Like, my job is to remove the stigma of cannabis; that it's not just something people do to get high and be lazy. There are a lot of people who use it. I'm a medical patient. I grow plants. I follow exactly how it's supposed to be. It's a very important thing in my life.
It's not legal with Major League Baseball, right?
It's not, but David Ortiz has his own brand.
I know it’s talked about a lot in the NFL and NBA. Is baseball a sport where it could be of use?
I do. I think it is. I'm a staunch defender of cannabis, because if we're OK with alcohol, which the statistics, you just roll out the chart, it just keeps going of domestic assault, car crashes, overdoses on alcohol. You won't find that with cannabis. Alcohol is everywhere. And that inebriates you, distorts you. Cannabis, you could kind of put in that category. Cannabis sales in Massachusetts actually just surpassed alcohol sales. If the right education is done with it and it's done in the right places, it just needs to be destigmatized.
I don't think it's going to go federal. I think your, you know, your Mississippi’s and your Arkansas’, your Bible belt is just never going to want to do it. As long as we keep destigmatizing it and putting light and educating the right way, I do believe cannabis is just going to be more and more accepted. NHL, they don't test for cannabis. What's the point? I mean, not for nothing but it's not giving you any advantage. It's just taking away from your anxiety and it's kind of making you slower. Your reaction time, if you're high, probably don't want that as a baseball player. But then I go and say that there's a pitcher who pitched on LSD and threw a no-hitter. So there's always something, right?
It’s definitely more mainstream now. I graduated high school in ’04 and back then, the stoner kids were the stereotypical ones you’d suspect.
Couldn’t agree with you more. I'll tell you what, you got a lazy person, you give them weed, they're going to be lazy. You take the weed away from them, they're still lazy. Unfortunately I used it in my life where there are times where it definitely wasn't for medicinal reasons and it was a bit much. I would be the first to admit that because I would have people who would come in and say, well, is cannabis healthy for you? And I'm like well, in moderation. If you do something too much, it's never good for you like regardless.
You're inhaling plant matter that's burning, like that isn't the best. So I'm always the first to tell you I'm not here to ever convince someone why you should do it. I'm here, that if you wanna come and talk to me about the benefits and the cons, let's do it and why maybe it is beneficial for you. But I really do look at it as like a medication. I don't use stimulants in my life. Caffeine, I've never drank coffee. It's just not for me. As you can see, I've talked your face off this whole interview. I don't need it.
Yeah, I would have thought you were running on Dunkin’ right now.
America runs on Dunk’s, except for me. I smoke an indica that mellows me out and keeps me relaxed and that's what I am very pro for.
I’m guessing marijuana is one of the last substances you want to be under the influence of playing baseball, especially with 95-plus mph with movement coming near your head so often. The league removed it from its banned substance list in 2020, but you can still get in trouble if you break any state or federal laws with it.
Love of Baseball
So how did you get hooked on baseball to start?
That was the hobby growing up with Dad playing catch in the yard. Shortstop was my position. I was quite athletic. Contact hitter, not power or anything like that, but just fell in love with the game, fell in love going to the games. I grew up a Mets fan, believe it or not. So baseball had a huge impact on me when I was very, very young.
I went to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Cooperstown, it's so surreal. Just seeing all the plaques of all these names that you read about growing up and hear about and seeing, like Curt Schilling’s sock, seeing Jackie Robinson's plaque, seeing specific bats that Ty Cobb used or, just the history of the game and all sorts of eras.
But there was one specific room I went into, and it was the 9/11 memorial. It was just how important baseball was on 9/11. It was the subway series: Yankees-Mets. It was very emotional. And so seeing that and seeing Mike Piazza’s jersey, the NYPD patch, and seeing him hit the walk off home run like it's just, like, goosebumps, right. And that was something that I thought was so just badass, honestly, growing up. So I fell in love with Mike Piazza and got my Mike Piazza jersey there. I still have it to this day and fell in love with the Mets. And growing up in Boston, anyone would tell me, you know, anyone but the Yankees, so that's OK.
I played shortstop as a kid. #2, of course, even though again, kind of had to hate Derek Jeter from Boston, he was a rival. But again, growing up, you know, I'm 25 years old, seeing him take the ball and run into the stands, third base and throw, like, that's the throw. Man. Like, that is the throw when you're playing shortstop that every kid was mimicking. Looking back at it as a Red Sox fan, he is a little bit overrated now.
So that's what got me into it. And the passion was always there. Just the goosebumps going to Fenway, half days at school. I got to see Jason Varitek's first ever Grand Slam. It was a walk off Grand Slam against BJ Ryan and the Toronto Blue Jays. You're in center field and watching that walk off go over your head. There's nothing like feeling old Fenway move and sway. And so I mean, with that history around, that's what I grew up with and I fell in love with the sport.
What part of Massachusetts are you in?
I'm outside of Boston about 30 minutes, I'm actually closer to Worcester. Worcester is getting bigger, so now people know what Worcester is. But growing up, if they're not from Massachusetts, you're like, oh, I'm from here. They're like, that's near Boston, right? And technically speaking, everything's near Boston, but I'm actually from a town called Sterling. Mary Had a Little Lamb is from Sterling. That's the history of my town. That's the only fun fact you're going to get in my town. But there's little statues.
I grew up in Clinton, MA. Now, I don't know if you know anything about Clinton, MA, but it has the oldest baseball diamond in the world. So Fuller Field is registered as a landmark, as the oldest baseball diamond in the world. And so that, again, just another part of history of baseball that I was just tied to and loved it.
Is it just there to not be touched or can you play on it?
You can play. It's not a historic landmark or anything like that. It's just a baseball diamond. And if you Google or Wikipedia, it's either that one, or allegedly China has one, I guess, which is funny. It's the longest in-use diamond. And so it's really cool history on that.
I see it here. So is the little kid in this pic you? (I showed him this pic from the article I found, it was not really him)
Nah, that looks a little too new. I was born in ’98.
Did you play there?
I did. That was our Little League field. So uh 10,11, 12. A lot of baseball practices there. It's also right next to a football field. So there's a lot of activities going on there. But that was a really integral part of my childhood.
So is baseball your favorite sport?
I mean, there's something about football that always gets me going, but no matter what, I'm always paying attention to baseball. Being a Mets fan, I always like to see what's going on in New York. I'm a huge gamer. There's a video game called Out of the Park Baseball. It's not MLB The Show, which everybody plays. You're nerdy, like, looking at the roster, going through prospects. So with all that I know the top prospects in baseball, I love following them. I mean, cause baseball, it's a sport that wears you down. It's a game of attrition, right? So you have 162 and then 81-81 (home and away games) and I mean, it's just the longevity. It's amazing the wear and tear and these guys play in and out. So that's always fascinated me.
Is there anything that's like, that's what hooked you the most?
I'm a competitive person. I've seen buzzer beaters. I've seen overtime hockey goals. There's something about that bottom of the ninth comeback that makes you shake a little bit. The documentary, I believe it's called “Four Days in October”. I'm going to be 100% honest with you, man, I was just a little too young to know 2004. I didn't get to witness the 2004 Red Sox.
My real first understanding was probably the 2007 Red Sox, and that would have been the Colorado Rockies (that they beat). And so that was Mike Lowell, Curt Schilling was still there, Papi. I mean I have the posters of David Ortiz and Manny. Manny being Manny. The first words I said when I walked onto Fenway, I looked at the left field, I said that is where Manny high-fived the fan and did a double play. Like you remember the moments. Or like, the famous picture of the security guard doing this and Torii Hunter's got his butt in the air whenthe Red Sox beat the Tigers. Like you really start to visualize history, and then you see the Green Monster, man you just see all of the people who've signed in there. You really are a part of history. And I've carved my name in Fenway and I'm part of that history.
Do they still sign the Pesky Pole?
That they do. So every year we'll paint it yellow, you know, a nice fresh yellow. And some way, every year, some people amaze you and they get higher and higher. And you're like, are they on stilts? Like how are they getting that high?
So you were born in ’98, so you have 4 Red Sox titles, a fresh new Celtics championship, some Bruins titles, and God knows how many Patriots titles.
Six in my lifetime. But I only really remember three. I'm spoiled, man. Even though I am rooting for the Red Sox, I still have that Mets heartbreak. The closest they got was the Royals championship that the Mets just completely blew two games in the 9th inning (in 2015), unfortunately.
This is, as gross as it sounds, this is the hardest it’s been in my life as a Boston sports fan. The Patriots picked third last year. The Red Sox finished last place three out of four years. Unfortunately, it looks like they're gonna burn out again this year. The Red Sox do have a three-game series against the Twins, and if we know anything about baseball, anything has happened. But unfortunately, I kind of feel like they've packed it in. So yeah, I didn't struggle. Aaron Boone is not my enemy. I don't look at him like that. I'm blessed.
Are you from a Boston sports family?
Yeah, whole family’s die hard. I like to stir the pot, that’s always kind of been me. I always looked for one team to root for, but I didn't want to root for the obvious enemy. I always wanted to pick my own teams growing up. But baseball was the one where, like, like David Wright was my favorite player for the longest time when I could actually watch. I love Carlos Beltran. And so the Mets kind of stuck with me. And then they got hot with Thor (Noah Syndergaard), all these guys with these electric names and nothing got to happen with it. But I'm still, you know, born into being like the Bostonian for sure.
Well there you have it, the extreme fandom of Boston is alive and well in this younger generation as well. And I’ll end this interview with a YouTube video of grounds crew bloopers and tarp monster victims, because they are always hilarious.
This was great. I always wondered about who/what/how of the grounds crew. It's especially relevant now that Dave Mellor retired as of yesterday's game.