He had just escaped the 11th inning Monday afternoon against the Rangers, paving the way for a walk-off win for the Red Sox. It was the kind of performance that Garrett Whitlock routinely produced throughout his stellar rookie season.
But this time something was different.
"Let's go! Let's win this game!"
The polite Georgia native was offering an image Red Sox fans hadn't seen throughout this introductory 2021 season. He was actually showing on-field emotion.
It was new to everyone, including Whitlock.
"I felt weird after it," he said of the exclamation, which one of his friends back home sent a screenshot of. "I got back in the dugout and got to my locker and was like, 'That was a little strange.' I normally just like to stay calm, stay focused and worry about the next day. Not try to get too high or too low."
How rare was it? Well, according to Whitlock it had been exactly 3,028 days since such an exclamation took place. He remembered the last time: May 9, 2013, when the Covenant Christian Academy Cougars wrapped up their second straight Independent Christian Schools of Georgia high school state championship.
"Probably sophomore year when we won the championship in high school. That's probably it," Whitlock told WEEI.com when asked the last time he busted out with the kind of emotion shown Monday.
"I was pitching there was a comebacker to me, caught it and threw it to Aaron Carver at first base to end it. One of my friends, Christian Roman, was in the dugout and he was running out on the field before I threw it to first."
There had been other opportunities to cut loose, according to Whitlock, such as the time his Pulaski Single-A team clinched a spot in the Appalachian League championship. But, with video evidence serving as proof, Whitlock resisted the urge for celebration.
"The video guy still has the video and I was on the mound when I was on the mound when we won the semifinal to go to the championship of the Appy League," he remembered. "It was a line-out to second base and everybody just started rushing second base and I just started walking to the dugout because I was like, 'I need to get focused on tomorrow.'"
Now, with his late-inning, high-leverage role growing by the day, Whitlock will be presented with plenty more chances to let loose. It might be a long way from that celebration 99 months before on a field in Conyers, Georgia, but he has learned the Fenway Park feels during a pennant race can get even the most stoic of particpants.
"It's been a lot of fun," Whitlock said with a smile. "It's down the stretch, so I'm just taking it a day at a time."
