The Red Sox found their feel-good moment of the young season
It was the little things that made a difference for Cam Booser. Until it was one big thing.
Throughout a career that included Tommy John surgery, a broken back due to a bike accident, a 50-game suspension due to marijuana, a retirement that included jumping into the building of acoustical ceilings, and then the three-plus years of trying the pitching thing again, it was a step-by-step process.
Booser needed to get his attitude right. Booser needed to get his mind right. And Booser needed to get his arm right. It was an evolution that could be witnessed every day in spring training, as was evidenced by something as simple as the entrance to the clubhouse.
Of the 60-or-so players who routinely came back into the dressing room at JetBlue Park, Booser was the only one who made a point to use the cleat-cleaning tool every ... single ... time. It was a little thing. But it also showed the kind of discipline he was going to need in order to reach that ultimate goal of becoming a big leaguer. (For more on Booser's journey, click here.)
Friday night in Pittsburgh, the big payoff arrived. The 31-year-old Booser became the oldest Red Sox player (excluding those who played in Japan) to make his major league debut since Tommy Fine's 1947 debut at the age of 32 years old.
The final line was innocuous enough, with Booser going the final inning in the Red Sox' 8-1 win. He gave up a run and struck out Andrew McCutchen. The box score will highlight things like Brayan Bello's six innings of one-hit ball, or the home runs by Wilyer Abreu, Triston Casas, Rob Refsnyder and Ceddanne Rafaela.
But the Red Sox' win on April 19, 2024 should be remembered for one thing: The culmination of a pretty incredible story.
