Ahead of his long-awaited season debut, Trevor Story walked through the Red Sox clubhouse.
Inexplicably, he made a detour on the way to his own corner locker, stopping in front of Rob Refsnyder’s locker, instead. The outfielder was nowhere to be found while Story briefly inspected the uniforms hanging within, then walked away empty-handed.
Moments later, he explained the odd moment to the Herald. “I was going to steal his pants,” he said with a smile.
As a prank? Not exactly.
“To wear them,” he said.
For good luck then? Something like that.
“Yeah, I mean, Ref’s got a lotta good luck in ’em,” he said. “If you use ’em and get hits in ’em, you want to use ’em again.”
Is he superstitious? “A little bit, a little bit.”
While Story agreed with the comparison to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Refsnyder found the whole situation comical, and with good reason.
“He, in a straight panic today before a meeting, was like, ‘I need to borrow your pants,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah? You can use my pants,” Refsnyder laughed.
“But it’s so bizarre! We don’t usually borrow. We are not the same size,” he said. According to Baseball Reference, the 6’2″ Story is two inches taller.
But for his first major league game since last September 11, Story clearly wanted everything to go smoothly.
“I asked him if he’s nervous about his tape and wristband combination, because he’s always so finicky about what color tape,” Refsnyder said.
“He’s a weirdo,” he added affectionately. “Fans should know that he’s very finicky about his uniform. He’s got all this custom stuff… he’s got a lot of style.”
Indeed, Story donned a pair of custom baby blue cleats with yellow design, to match the team’s City Connect uniforms, which they’ll wear for the second game in a row. He estimated he’s accumulated “definitely over 100” custom pairs over the years, but Tuesday’s selection is new. He designed them back in December, just weeks before it was determined that he needed internal brace surgery.
The Red Sox designated Yu Chang for assignment and officially activated Story around 5:20 p.m. on Tuesday evening. More than a year and a half after signing his 6-year contract, and almost exactly 11 months since his last major league game, Story is Boston’s starting shortstop.
Last year, the two-time All-Star played all 94 of his games at second base, so Tuesday is even more than a season debut for him; it’s a homecoming.
“It’s huge, a lot of greats have come through here and played shortstop,” he said deferentially. “I’m looking to step in and do my best… I’m embracing it. You don’t get to call yourself the shortstop of a team like this very often.”
The franchise record books are littered with legendary and beloved shortstops: Joe Cronin, Johnny Pesky, Rico Petrocelli, Nomar Garciappara, and most recently, Xander Bogaerts. In that regard, Story admitted that moving back to his natural position is bittersweet. He and Bogaerts were teammates last season, and he was quite vocal about wanting Bogaerts, who played more games at shortstop than anyone in franchise history, to stay in Boston.
“I wanted to play with Xander (Bogaerts), and obviously, things didn’t work out there,” he said.
No doubt about it, it was an emotional day even before Story took the field (in his own pants) and finally got back to work. He described the hours leading up as akin to the feeling of Christmas Eve as a child.
“I’ve definitely got butterflies.”
When New York Yankees manager (and 2003 Red Sox nemesis) Aaron Boone got ejected for an American League-leading sixth time on Monday night, he made the most of his exit.
While getting into a heated argument with home plate umpire Laz Diaz, who’d been missing calls all night, Boone made his point in theatric fashion. He strode over to home plate, knelt down to draw a line in the dirt, then mimicked Diaz’s strike call before walking off the field.
Overall, Boone wasn’t wrong. According to Umpire Scorecards, only 66-percent of Diaz’s called strikes were in the zone; well below the 88-percent umpire average.
Understandably, the footage went viral on social media. It also prompted a call from his rival.
“I talked to him today,” Alex Cora chuckled. “I get upset and all that, but he’s so good at that. You know, like impersonations, he’s awesome.”
“I told him the hips were really good,” the Red Sox manager said, then added, “I’ll probably pay half the fine.”
Wednesday will be a bullpen day, Alex Cora confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. James Paxton will start Thursday’s series finale, and Chris Sale is on track to be activated in time to start Friday’s series opener against the Detroit Tigers. Brayan Bello will make his next start on Saturday.