In the final days of a lost 2012 season, Dustin Pedroia made sure he played in that last game, with the Red Sox punctuating their season with a sweep at Yankee Stadium ... broken finger and all.
He wanted to send a message to his teammates. He wanted to leave a memory for his young children. And he wanted to continue defining himself as a major-league ballplayer.
Such instances can carry a lot of weight. That was a reminder offered by Caleb Durbin Thursday night.
Even without any injuries, the story Durbin presented in what would be a 6-3 win for the Red Sox over the Yankees is a good one. The former Yankees minor leaguer continued his about-face during this 2026 season, hitting the two-run homer in the fifth inning that allowed the hosts a lead they wouldn't relinquish. It was his fifth homer in the last 13 games, with Durbin carrying a .936 OPS since May 28.
This is a player who went from one of the worst hitters in all of MLB, landing with a .479 OPS after the Red Sox's May 24 loss, to one of the best over the last month.
"It's pretty night and day," Durbin said of his turnaround. "There’s a lot that goes into it. Swing feels better. Approach feels better. Confidence is better to where you're not really thinking of anything. You're just up there trying to get a good pitch to hit. That’s when you're at your best. I knew I'd get there eventually. It took a little bit of time, which was frustrating, but it's part of the journey."
It's a great story. One of the best in this whole disappointing Red Sox season.
And then there is the bit about the injury.
Much like Pedroia will always remember Oct. 3 game in the Bronx, Durbin deservedly will likely never forget this one against the Yankees.
When you dislocate your left pinky, knowing that it's resting at a 90-degree angle under your batting glove while walking off the field, and then make sure you're back in the lineup 24 hours later, that isn't a forgettable experience. Sure, Durbin had dislocated fingers before, but that was on a wrestling mat and didn't involve going out and grabbing a bat against the American League's best starting pitcher, Cam Schlittler. And perhaps there was some sense of relief when the finger straightened out upon taking off his batting glove to undergo X-rays. That, however, didn't mean all was back to normal.
Whether it was because of the grappler's mindset Durbin's athletic existence was born from, or simply the desperation to help his Red Sox get right, the third baseman wasn't going to think twice about playing in this game.
And it was a good thing for the Red Sox he did.
"Once they told me that it was fine, and they kind of asked me, ‘It's up to you how it feels,’ I didn't really think about [not playing]," Durbin explained. "I just wanted to be out there."
"I’m proud of that kid, man. I think he was sitting in the postgame [clubhouse] and said he was more disappointed that they couldn't get [the finger] back in right away [on Wednesday] and [he could] go back in the field," said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. "But they were able to get it back in, and all things considered, it was a little sore and he said he was ready to go. So we dodged a bullet there."
