The Boston Red Sox may have their share of pricey free agents on its roster, but from Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury to Jonathan Papelbon and Manny Delcarmen, a growing amount of essential players are in fact, homegrown. This season, especially has seen a plethora of talent come up from the minors to help the big club, including Josh Reddick, Chris Carter and perhaps most notably, Daniel Bard.
As fun as it is seeing players like these develop on the big league level, I thought it would be a great idea to see and cover some of these future big leaguers in their own element someday. That someday was last Sunday.
It was around quarter-to-four on the afternoon of August 30, with nary a cloud in the sky in Lowell, MA when I arrived at LeLacheur Park, home to the Lowell Spinners. It is a Red Sox single-A affiliate that has seen future stars like Jonathan Papelbon and Jacoby Ellsbury play there, among many others.
Game time was set for 5:05 pm, but as a credentialed media member, I was there to get my media pass and hopefully make my pre-game time eventful. In other words, I was hoping to interview at least one Spinner before game time.
Once I got my pass and went upstairs, I saw a guy writing out in blue marker the starting lineups of the Spinners and their opponent, the Brooklyn Cyclones. To my surprise, local product Alex Hassan was written into the lineup, starting at RF. He grew up next to my hometown of Quincy, MA in Milton, so many in my town are quite familiar with this hitter/pitcher’s success at BC High, then Duke University and now career with the Red Sox, whom drafted him in the 20th round of the 2009 draft.
Hassan was previously in Lowell for a few weeks before getting promoted to single-A Greenville. I didn’t see any pregame reports mentioning he was back in Lowell for Sunday’s game, but was glad he was there.
One of my goals was to interview the biggest name and prospect on the Spinners, Ryan Westmoreland, an outfielder who unfortunately broke his collarbone trying to make a play in a game two days earlier. I saw him walk across the field minutes after I arrived but found out later he left the premises soon after.
So my next choice to interview was, you guessed it, Alex Hassan. After asking an usher when and how the media does interview players here, she radioed down to Jon Boswell, the head of media relations for the Spinners and had me meet with him downstairs.
Article comments
1 - chris
Very well written article!
2 - Matthew T. Sussman
Late (although early enough) on this, but LeLacheur Park might've been the prettiest ballpark I saw last year. It's small but the backdrop and atmosphere was incredible. I'm sure there's a good reason for an alligator as a mascot. Was a seamstress too 1800s?
3 - charlie
The kids loved (and posed for pictures with) that mascot)! I don't know why an alligator is the Spinners' mascot either but it's working for them very well.
4 - ExLowellite
I was at that game. What a thriller! Tied until the 8th inning. Great venue but the constant chatter of the announcer and the antics on the screen in center field takes something to get used to!