Diving into Juan Soto's existence with the Red Sox
On July 27, 2013, David Ortiz smashed the bullpen phone in the the Orioles' visitors' dugout.
The Red Sox went on their way to win nine of the next 12 games after the property destruction (which the Orioles asked him to pay for and then later gifted him as a retirement gift). The end result was, of course, a World Series title.
Tuesday night, Alex Cora went back to the well.
In the third inning of what ultimately would be a 2-0 Red Sox win over the Mets at Fenway Park, starting pitcher Walker Buehler was ejected by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook for arguing what clearly looked like a strike on the second pitch of Juan Soto's second at-bat.
Buehler's dismissal led to series of events that the Red Sox might not soon forget.
Ultimately, there was the impressive outing from the Red Sox' bullpen, who, despite short rest, pieced together 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball on the arms of Brennan Bernandino, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Wilson, Greg Weissert, Justin Slaten and Aroldis Chapman.
"Today's game was a story about the bullpen. Obviously, I put them in a really tough spot. I've been in this league too long for that to happen," Buehler said.
"He can say stuff from the mound," crew chief Laz Diaz told a pool reporter. “But once he comes off the mound, he’s leaving his position to argue balls and strikes. Once anybody leaves their position to argue balls and strikes, that’s an immediate ejection."
But it was the image presented by Tanner Houck that may have defined the day.
After Alex Cora followed Buehler with an ejection of his own, the manager went full Ortiz, with the exception of using his bare hand instead of a bat to demolish the bullpen phone box.
That paved the way for Houck to offer his own imitation - John Cusak in the 1980's movie classic 'Say Anything.'
That came courtesy using the newly-released prop to help celebrate Rafael Devers' fifth-inning home run, which came just two batters after Carlos Narvaez first got the Red Sox on the board with a homer.
If there was every a time for the confluence of events to take place it might have been Tuesday night. A struggling Mets lineup. A Red Sox team desperately trying to build momentum off their series-opening win. And the luxury of knowing ace Garrett Crochet would be on the mound to protect the depleted bullpen, having already turned in the third-most innings of any pitcher in baseball.
The short-term pain - both on and off the field - might just to lead the same sort of long-term gain Ortiz elicited almost 12 years ago.