The story behind Alex Verdugo calling a team meeting
It appeared to be an innocuous ground ball to second base, leading off the bottom of the first inning. But one Kolten Wong bobble, and an all-out sprint down the first base line by Alex Verdugo served as the tone-setter for what ultimately would evolve into a 9-4 Red Sox win over the Mariners.
Verdugo reached. Two pitches later Masa Yoshida tripled. The Red Sox were on their way to snapping what had become a four-game losing streak.
But what most didn’t realize that Verdugo had actually served as the message-sender two hours earlier, well before a pitch was thrown. That was thanks to something the 27-year-old had never done in his professional life - call a players-only meeting.
“It was a good meeting. Verdugo led it. It was great,” explained Red Sox outfielder Rob Refnsyder.
“I think the message was good. … I just know from my perspective, it’s cool to see Alex taking on that leadership role. I think he has done a great job, especially leading off. He busted his ass going down to first base and set the tone really early. It was great. From my perspective, it was great seeing Verdugo take that next step as a leader. We have team meetings all the time, but Verdugo led this one. It was good.”
The evolution of Verdugo as major leaguer has been on display for all to see throughout this young season, with the most recent example coming with his two-hit, three-run night that boosted the outfielder’s batting average (.303) and OPS (.869).
But this get-together was the next evolution of Verdugo’s existence, a step that might have been one of his most difficult yet.
“Really most of it, it was just … After the few games that we had, everybody has kind of been seeing it. We all kind of felt it. We all know and aware of our own actions. For me, talking to a couple of veterans, JT (Justin Turner), (Chris) Sale and Carita (Rafael Devers), just wanted to get a little players’ meeting going today. Just to get a conversation going with the guys. It wasn’t about anything bad or anything specific. It was just, ‘Win or lose, boys, let’s go out and bring the energy.’ Let’s not get down. Let’s not put the pressure on us. Let’s root for the guys in front of you and behind you and get on the same page of just playing the ball, man. The whole year we have played it hasn’t been just one game carrying the team. It has been everybody contributing. Everybody firing and helping out.
"For me, it was the first time I had ever called for a players’ meeting or anything like that so I was obviously pretty nervous at first. But I think the guys really liked it and I think everything was good. Like I said, just some in-house stuff. We’re with each other a lot so I felt like we should be able to speak up and talk to each other as a team. Just kind of right this ship a little bit.
“You think about it a little bit, but at the same time you don’t really want to really press too much when you’re on a little bit of a losing thing. Then guys start feeling like, ‘We’re stressed and we’re really grinding.’ It’s still very early for us. I just felt that today was just a little reminder. Just a reminder for all of us, me included. We just have to play the game hard. Bust out of the box and force some action. I think today, grounding to second and busting out and seeing a little bobble and I’m safe. Guys in the dugout are on the front step, fired up and yelling. It sets the tone and gets everybody fired up and ready to contribute. It’s something like that. Nothing too crazy. We have a really good group of guys here, from the veterans to the rookies. I really enjoy this team. It’s one of those ones where we have to police ourselves and get out of being sensitive about it. Everybody should be able to have a voice on this team. If you see something or notice something, don’t be afraid to say it. Let’s talk about it and let’s get this thing going.”
The meeting took place just after batting practice, with Verdugo calling the group together early in the 5 o’clock hour.
While it was far anything resembling a do-or-die vibe, the voices did offer the kind of reminder that can be just what the doctor ordered for a team trying to regain the feeling of that eight-game win streak it left behind a week before. And beating out that throw from second a couple of hours later certainly didn’t hurt, either.
“It worked out for that first at-bat. Regardless if he bobbles it or not, you just have to bust it hard and put pressure on guys. I think that’s kind of what we saw,” Verdugo explained. “We did a really good job when they got the four runs back and we didn’t put our heads down. We kept telling Nicky, ‘Keep going out there, attack the zone and keep doing what you’re doing. We’ve got you.’ And right after that we answered with a three-run inning. I think it’s contagious. Energy is contagious. It’s hard to have energy every single day, but I think if you fake it a little bit and create it … If you start faking energy, where you’re just saying stuff. ‘Let’s go! C’mon!’ It starts creating real energy and starts some momentum and some good things happen and you can ride that.
“It’s just a long season. It was awesome. I’m glad it went well.”