Ice cream machines evidently mean a lot to major league baseball players.
Fourteen years ago, former Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett (and some of his other teammates) threatened a revolution if the team didn't replace the ice cream machine it had suddenly taken away.
"I want to be traded unless we get the ice cream machine back," Beckett said at the time, carrying the Cy Young runner-up cache from the year before.
Then the reigning World Series MVP weighed in, "I don’t know why we can’t have ice cream. We won the World Series with it there," said Mike Lowell.
Now, the power of ice cream has returned. Rafael Devers is a big fan.
Ice cream it is, because, these days, when Devers talks, people should listen.
The Red Sox' third baseman has become one of the most must-listen-to and must-watch athletes we have seen in some time.
The latest reminder came courtesy his latest "what-did-he-just-do?" swing, this one handing the Red Sox their 2-0 win over the Mariners Sunday afternoon.
“I mean, he’s the only person I’ve ever seen do that,” Boston designated hitter J.D. Martinez told MLB.com. “It’s unbelievable. We talk about it all the time. He can cover so many pitches where a normal person can’t. It’s funny because you’ll see him chase pitches and you’re like, ‘Oh, he’s chasing,' and in my mind, I’m like, 'He’s hit that pitch out [before]. I’ve seen him do it a million times.' It’s impressive.”
“Unreal,” Boston manager Alex Cora relayed to reporters regarding Devers' 0-2 swing. “You have to be perfect to hit a ball like that. He was for that swing. That’s why sometimes we talk about him being patient, controlling the zone. You cannot take away his aggressiveness. And he can do that with bad pitches. Two-strike approach, he went the other way. Us humans, we hit line drives the other way. He hits homers the other way with two strikes.”
Devers is only behind Aaron Judge when it comes to total bases on the season, while carrying the most extra-base hits in all of baseball. He is third in batting average (.335) and boasts the seventh-best OPS (.977).
On this potential season-altering 8-2 road trip for the Red Sox, Devers was the foundation for the success. In the nine games he participated in on the swing, the lefty hitter managed a 1.002 OPS with three homers.
And it was all punctuated with what else -- ice cream.
The guess is that unlike those Red Sox back in 2008 - who had to settle for a frozen yogurt machine the rest of the season - Devers is going to get whatever frozen treat he wants upon returning home.
“Yeah, everything here in the Major Leagues is hard,” Devers told reporters “Just trying to make an adjustment pitch by pitch and trying to see the ball and hit the ball. Baseball is about momentum.”
And when it comes to momentum, right now both the player and his team has plenty to go around.
