Sean Casey only played one season with the Red Sox, but he remembers his time in Boston fondly.
So fondly, in fact, that Casey -- nicknamed "The Mayor" -- wishes every Major League Baseball player could get a chance to experience what he experienced in 2008, when he played a backup role on a team that was looking to defend its 2007 World Series title but ultimately fell to the Rays in seven games in the ALCS.
Casey joined WEEI's Rob Bradford for the latest installment of City of Boston Credit Union's "Uniquely Boston" series, which you can watch above.
"It was more. It was more than I thought it would be," Casey said of his time in Boston. "It was my first year backing up. I was backing up [Kevin] Youkilis at first base. I had started my whole career, so I don’t know what to expect. But it was one of the most unique experiences ever. I tell people all the time, I say, ‘If you can play in Boston, do it.’ I wish everyone who plays in Major League Baseball could have a chance to play for the Red Sox. That’s how unique it was.
"I was telling my buddy the other day, like it was the first time I really felt like a rock star in the big leagues. Like I was backing up and everywhere I went, they’d be like, ‘Mayor! What’s up Mayor!’ And I’d be like, ‘This is unbelievable.’ I’m the backup first baseman and these people know who I am. And the other thing was, since I was backing up, I had like a front-row seat at Fenway Park in the dugout, and the atmosphere, man -- nothing like it. Nothing like Fenway Park, sold-out crowd. The energy those fans bring is second to none. And then when you go on the road, they’re there too. It’s unbelievable how well they travel. It was one of the greatest years of my life playing for the Red Sox."
Casey, who also played in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Detroit, would ultimately retire after that 2008 season. At the age of 33, he was still a more than capable hitter, as he finished his one year in Boston with a .322 average and .381 on-base percentage in 69 games.
"After the games, it was so cool even just going through the crowds," Casey added. "I used to live right there, I was a block from Fenway. I used to walk home and people would be like, ‘What’s up, Mayor? Great job, Mayor! We love you, Mayor!’ I don’t know, man. I’m grateful because I hit pretty well throughout the whole season and ended up hitting .322 at the end. I never had to be the guy who was hitting .180, like, ‘You suck!’ But my experience in Boston was like none other. To this day, 13 years later, so grateful I played in Boston. I am just so thankful."