Ryan Dempster knew it was going to be a different kind of day before he even got to the park.
“I walked to the ballpark, because I lived close to the stadium, and you could feel it, you could feel this hum going on and everyone was excited,” the former Red Sox pitcher said. “Not for the Red Sox game, that was like the secondary or third thing going on that day, it was all for the marathon.”
Dempster was the starter for that year’s 2013 Patriots Day game, which wound up being one of his best outings as a member of the Red Sox. The veteran held the Tampa Bay Rays to one run over seven innings while striking out 10, helping set up a thrilling finish that saw Mike Napoli hit a walk-off double for the 3-2 win.
Of course, it’s what happened next that, for better or worse, cemented the day’s place in history.
Approximately 41 minutes after the game ended two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon finish line, killing three and injuring hundreds. The eventual World Series champions would go on to play a central role in the city’s healing process, deepening the already special connection between the team, city and race.
Now, 10 years after the tragedy, two members of that club are set to mark the anniversary by taking part in the marathon themselves.
Dempster and Brock Holt are set to run this year’s 127th Boston Marathon, which will take place amid a weekend of festivities and remembrance. Holt and his wife, Lakyn, are running in support of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, while Dempster is running for the Lingzi Foundation, which was established in honor of Lingzi Lu, one of the bombings’ victims.
“I’d always thought in my mind thought ‘oh it would be amazing to run a marathon’,” Dempster said. “It would have to be something pretty special to do, so thinking about the 10-year anniversary and what that season meant to me … it was one of those things where I want to run and I want to run for the people who died and the families that survived going through all that.”
That Dempster would feel compelled to run speaks to how meaningful that season was to everyone who experienced it. Then a 35-year-old veteran, Dempster only played one season in Boston, which wound up being his last. Even still, he looks back on 2013 as one of the best experiences of his entire baseball career.
“Greatest season in my life. I played one year in Boston and it feels like I played 10,” Dempster said. “To go through what we did as a city, and then the tremendous honor we were given as a team to be able to help a city heal was really special.
“The way the city rallied around us, a lot of people say to us sometimes ‘you guys uplifted the city with the World Series’,” he continued. “And I’m like ‘well yeah but it started with the city uplifting us’.”
The marathon will cap off what promises to be a special weekend for the pair and their 2013 Red Sox teammates, as Sunday the club is also celebrating the 10-year anniversary of that championship team at Fenway Park.
Not everyone will be in attendance — catcher David Ross now manages the Chicago Cubs, Napoli serves as his first base coach, and Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts are still active players in Kansas City and San Diego, respectively — but most of the rest of the team is set to return.
“That team was very special, for everything that happened here and the way they handled everything, and winning the whole thing, from afar that was impressive,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “It’s a good group of guys, a bunch of characters, and from everything I hear they’re very connected, they stay in touch, they help each other in their charity events and all that, that’s what it’s all about.”
The festivities began Saturday night when Dempster, Hall of Fame baseball writer Peter Gammons and former Red Sox pitchers Jake Peavy and Bronson Arroyo headlined a fundraiser for the Foundation to be Named Later at the City Winery. Dempster performed his “Off The Mound” talk show, and throughout the rest of the weekend the former players will have a jam-packed itinerary, which for Dempster and Holt will culminate at the Boston Marathon finish line.
“It’s going to be a whirlwind of a weekend,” said Dempster, who joined the Cubs front office as a special assistant after retiring and now serves as an MLB Network commentator. “I feel like I might sleep for a few days afterwards, it’s going to be a lot of emotions and getting back together with our teammates, celebrating 10 years together and culminating at the finish line on Monday, it’s special, that’s the best word to describe it.”
With Brayan Bello set to return to action in the coming days and James Paxton potentially only a week or two behind him, the Red Sox are going to have some decisions to make on their pitching staff.
One player they can’t afford to send down, however, is Josh Winckowski.
The second-year right-hander has looked like an entirely different pitcher since spring training began and has arguably been the most effective arm on the entire staff so far. Winckowski has now allowed just two runs over 12 innings (1.50 ERA) over his first six outings, and in every game so far he’s either eaten crucial innings in eventual Red Sox wins or kept the club within striking distance in close losses.
Friday night he delivered his latest gem, allowing one run over three innings while earning the hold in Boston’s 5-3 series-opening win. His stuff has also improved, with his fastball now averaging over 95 mph and occasionally touching 97.
Whatever shake-ups may come once the staff is at full strength, this version of Winckowski needs to remain part of the equation.
Jordan Walker, the No. 2 prospect in baseball and currently the youngest player in MLB, has gotten his big league career off to a tremendous start.
After making the St. Louis Cardinals opening day roster, the 20-year-old outfielder proceeded to record a hit in each of his first 12 games, matching the record for longest hitting streak to start a career by a player 20 or younger set by Eddie Murphy of the Philadelphia Athletics back in 1912. The streak was finally broken on Thursday when Walker went 0 for 4 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Entering the weekend Walker was batting .294 with two home runs, eight RBI and a .784 OPS. Barring injury or unforeseen circumstances he is scheduled to appear at Fenway Park when the Cardinals come to Boston the weekend of May 12-14.
Former BC High star Mike Vasil made his Double-A debut for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies this past Tuesday, striking out eight while allowing two runs over four innings of work against the Somerset Patriots.
Though he did not play in that game, North Andover’s Max Burt also had a tremendous showing in the series for Somerset. The ex-St. John’s Prep star went 2 for 4 with a grand slam and 5 RBI total on Wednesday, and then Friday night he went deep again, hitting a solo shot and a double as part of a 2 for 3 effort.