All things Roman Anthony
They waited. They waited. And they waited some more. Why not? When it comes to Roman Anthony, everyone has had plenty of practice in being patient.
The collection of cameras - both big and small - crowded at the top steps the Red Sox' dugout around 5 p.m. Monday. The anticipation of the No. 1 prospect in baseball walking up to the Fenway Park field for the first time was the image so many had anticipated for so long. But as time passed, the intense jostling for position slowly subsided, with no sign of the promised player.
While the waiting took place on one side of the field, those who had lived the life talked in and around the other dugout. Junior Caminero, the most recent player to live the life Anthony had experienced as the most highly-touted minor leaguer in baseball, got word about the Anthony promotion and started reflecting on his big day two seasons ago.
"I'm going to wait to have that moment with him and speak with him," Caminero said. "It's just a matter of continuing to put in the hard work. You have to be mentally prepared for the decision the team has for you. Once you go out there you can only control what you can control. Be mentally tough with the decisions the team is going to make with you and your career."
Translation: Dig in, Roman. This is just the beginning.
A few feet away, in the Tampa Bay Rays' dugout, the manager who helped guide his own 21-year-old future superstar, Kevin Cash, reflected on what this life is like for the player and the guy who is putting him in the lineup.
"Go play like a No. 1 prospect. Hell, go put pressure on them," Cash said. "I think you do everything you can to eliminate pressure and rely on some of the older guys to feel comfortable and keep doing what you've been doing in the minor leaguers."
And it's what Anthony has done in the minor leagues that served as the impetus for the still-waiting media tunnel on the Red Sox' side of things. Sure, the Red Sox had experienced calling up a No. 1 prospect before, summoning Yoan Moncada to start at third base on the final day of August in the 2016 season. But that was in Oakland. This was in Boston. And the streets, stands and clubhouses were buzzing from the minute word came down that this would be the big day.
Red Sox farm director Brian Abraham had called Worcester manager Chad Tracy to make sure the bus to Lehigh Valley hadn't been loaded up quite yet, allowing the WooSox to celebrate their now former teammate's promotion to the big leagues. That was just after 2 p.m. By 3:15 p.m., Anthony's best friend in baseball, Marcelo Mayer, would be gliding through the Red Sox' clubhouse with a smile that he couldn't possibly hide. He had just made his call to Anthony, who was just starting his journey to the big leagues with a easy-breezy car ride down the Mass Pike.
"I called him right away," Mayer told WEEI.com. "He's one of my best friends. We have played together so long and I have seen how he works. I know the conversations we have had about how exciting it was going to be when we're both up here and today is the day."
It was the day. But by the time 5 p.m. crept toward first pitch, it hadn't seemed to start yet. That wouldn't come until Anthony finally found his way to the Fenway Park field in a Boston Red Sox uniform.
The wait continued, until it didn't.
Anthony hit fifth, playing right field. He didn't get a hit, but he did walk, while managing the hardest-hit ball of the night via a 111.2 mph grounder up the middle. There was a bad misplay in right field, letting a Yandy Diaz liner go under his glove and reach the wall in the fifth inning. ("Just can't happen,” he said of the misplay. "I've dealt with that skip a million times in my career. And it's tough to get in a game like that. You feel like that's the reason why we lost, little things like that.")
"Being able to slow it down. The walk, hit the ball hard twice, stayed up the middle, didn't try to do too much. It was a good first day," observed Red Sox manager Alex Cora.
The wait was over. Now comes a completely different conversation.
The Red Sox couldn't be saved by Anthony in this first go-round, dropping a 10-8 decision to the Rays in 11 innings. The excitement and anticipation had changed, but the current reality of the team hadn't, with Cora's club still having failed to win three games in a row a single time since the end of April.
The discomfort this time around had to do with a worn-out bullpen letting the Rays consistently comeback, and the lineup going 4-for-23 with runners in scoring position.
Still, Anthony's presence did feel like part of the solution the Red Sox' have desperately trying to uncover. Even as the 21-year-old major league newbie, he offered the image of a middle-of-the-order hitter who is completely under control (as was evident by the aforementioned free pass during the Sox' seventh-inning two-run rally).
The pomp, circumstance and guessing games are over. In their place is whatever answer Anthony may or may not be supplying during this most crucial few weeks for the Red Sox.
Trades. Call-ups. Position changes. None seem the likely route to elusive consistent respectability. Anthony? That might be a different story.
The pictures were taken. The interviews were conducted. The big day has come and gone. One wait is over. Now another one begins.