Xander Bogaerts opens up about his record-setting weekend
OAKLAND - The captain conversation has been surfaced before.
It has been a topic when it comes to the Celtics, with former coach Brad Stevens proclaiming he would not be naming a captain anymore after Rajon Rondo became the last Celtic to hold the title.
And now, it's the Red Sox' turn.
Saturday there seemed to be a tipping point when it came to the topic. That was thanks to Xander Bogaerts.
Before the game - in which Bogaerts set the franchise record for most starts at shortstop - it was Alex Cora who defined his player's existence.
"I don’t know if we have to put a 'C' on Xander’s jersey but everybody knows the consistency, the way he approaches the game, the ways he cares about winning, what he brings to the occasion, not only on the field but off the field," the manager said. "Sometimes I hate repeating things but I love repeating this, he’s the most consistent player and the most consistent person in our organization. Everybody knows he’s the one who takes career of people in that clubhouse, takes care of people on the field, takes care of the manager, like i said yesterday. Just putting that name in the lineup makes you feel comfortable we’re going to have a good player in the lineup on a daily basis. If you want to name him the captain without putting the 'C', you can go ahead and do it.
"Obviously, in football, too, they have different offense, defense, special teams whatever. Here you have the bullpen,the starters, the infielders, the outfielders. But in end the when you talk about the guy in that clubhouse, yeah, Xander Bogaerts is the guy."
And then there was Rafael Devers' proclamation after the Red Sox' 8-0 win over the A's.
"Yeah," the third baseman quickly responded when asked if he viewed Bogaerts as the teams' captain. "I give that to him. Every time we need somebody to speak up or we need to resolve anything, everything goes through him. For me, he’s the captain."
Within Devers' comment was a key piece of the puzzle. "Everything goes through him." Sound familiar?
This was Mookie Betts on the Bradfo Sho podcast in 2017 talking about David Ortiz: "Now that he's not here we don't have one big person to oversee everything. ... All we knew here was David Ortiz. Just knowing that not one guy has taken the brunt, we have to understand that. And it took a little while to understand that. It took us a little while to find our identity. I think we're starting to figure it out. Nobody is going to take a month and we are going to know. It may take us a couple of more years to fully understand it."
This is what Bogaerts has become.
"Especially knowing where I came from in 2013, trying to hide between my clothes in the locker - I was around so many veterans and I didn't want to mess things up. You want to respect them and you don't want to mess up," he said after Saturday's win. "Now obviously throughout the years I have a lot of great veteran guys I've learned a lot from. I'm thankful for all the help they have given me and the experience being around them so I can do a much better job when I'm in that position."
There won't be a 'C' and there won't be any official designation. Those days with the Red Sox - and really within the world baseball - are a thing of the past. But if there was any doubts about who carries the title in that clubhouse, they have come and gone.
Xander Bogaerts is the captain of the Boston Red Sox.
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