The meaning of a win Tuesday night was not lost on the Red Sox, before or after they put up seven runs in the second inning. They'll be home soon, but until they are, the most the Sox can do for their city in pain is play. A win's a bonus.
CLEVELAND — A Red Sox jersey with Boston's area code, 617, had moved from the dugout to the locker room after the 7-2 win. A sign from an Indians fan that read "Our hearts and prayers go to you Boston, Love, Cleveland," was brought inside, too. The Red Sox's B-strong logo — the traditional Sox "B" over the word strong — ran on the video board at Progressive Field.
The meaning of Tuesday night was not lost on the Red Sox, before or after they put up seven runs in the second inning. They'll be home soon, but until they are, the most the Sox can do for their city in pain is play. A win's a bonus.
"It was obviously not a normal game," in-spirit captain Dustin Pedroia said Tuesday night. "I mean the stuff before the game and during the game, it's in your mind. You know, we're obviously thinking about what's going on back home. We know a lot of people are back home watching, trying to maybe hopefully get something to take their mind off what's happening there. We're going to come out and play as hard as we can and we'll be home in a couple days."
They talked about Patriots' Day before the game, but just talked. There was no rally speech, no team meeting, but the Sox didn't need any reminders about the many injured and three killed in Boston.
"There was talk before the game in the clubhouse," manager John Farrell said. "There was talk about how guys could possibly reach out and be help to some that are in need, whether that's through lifting of spirits -- there was talk of, 'How can we contribute?' or 'How can we get involved?' I know as an organization, we'll do something much larger. This is being carried by each guy, evident by the thought that there was to put the jersey together, which everyone saw hanging in the dugout. Guys are very conscious of what's taken place."
We are brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters. We are Boston, and we are strong! #BostonStrong twitter.com/RedSox_Fund/st…
— Red Sox Foundation (@RedSox_Fund) April 17, 2013
Jonny Gomes, who walked three times Tuesday, including with the bases loaded in the second against Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez, talked to Red Sox clubhouse manager Tom MacLaughlin before the game. The idea: find a way to keep Boston with them in the dugout. Put the jersey in the dugout.
"Just something to let the people know, like I said, they’re out of sight right now, but definitely not out of mind," Gomes said. "How far is that jersey going to stretch? I don’t know. But just the fact of letting people know we have a heavy heart over here and, like today, we had Boston across our chests, we didn’t have our own individual names. That being said, we’re representing the whole community and the area.”
Mike Napoli had a pair of hits, and his bases-clearing double in the second was the defining on-field moment of the game.
More than any other sport, major league baseball's 162-game schedule demands steadiness and a daily approach that doesn't waver much. That was impossible Tuesday, and no one on the Red Sox fought that reality. Tuesday was special, win or lose, and even if the Sox had lost, they did what they set out to do — return normalcy.
"It's hard not to think about it," said Napoli, who had a walk-off hit at Fenway Park less than an hour before the explosives were set off on Boylston Street on Monday afternoon. "You're sitting in the dugout, long inning, you're thinking about what really happened yesterday. The umpires said something, asked me about it. Everyone when they get to first gets asked about it. It's thought about through the game."
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