BOSTON (AP) – Four young launchers from Chicago White Sox all had something in common before even coming to Boston this weekend. All four came from Massachusetts and they were teammates in a major league club together in Fenway Park for the first time.
And in a 24 -hour period, Sean Burke, Mike Vasil, Jared Shuster and Shane Smith, each launched the Fenway mound as a major league for the first time.
“It's great,” said Burke, a 25-year-old Sutton right-hander who started on Sunday in Chicago’s 8-4 victory.
“These are three guys I knew even before the White Sox,” he said. “For everyone, meeting here to be able to do it the same weekend is really cool.”
Burke played in high school against Vasil, a lifter who launched the defeat on Saturday.
“It's really special,” said Vasil, a 25 -year -old man from Wellesley. “This is one of those things where you don't always feel that. It is not as if I had made a crazy trip to the stories of another guy.
“But it's definitely a moment in a circle,” he said. “You grow a fan of the team and find your way here on probably one of the most special weekends in the whole city.”
Shuster, a 26 -year -old left -handed from New Bedford, was called after the opening of the Friday series opened and obtained four withdrawals on Saturday. He went to Fenway as a large feature before, but never had the chance to launch in the stadium.
“Perfect timing,” he said. “It definitely worked on the calendar as a trip I wanted to make. … It's great, not many big leaguers are mass., So it's cool to have four in the same team and show the guys to come that anything is possible. “”
Smith, a 25 -year -old Danvers player who started on Saturday, had the chance to launch in Fenway at his fourth start to the major league. Having so many family members watch has rendered the special exit.
“It just means a lot for us,” he said. “Just to be here in Fenway and the beginnings were great and everything. Just to make my family here make it even more special.”
He suffocated a little by summarizing his thoughts.
“Quite difficult to put it in words what is the impact, but it is special,” he said, stopping.
For Burke, it was a chance for the person who presented Baseball to him – his grandmother Pam – to see him work on the Fenway mound.
“She kept me keeping myself when I was little,” he said. “My parents both worked when I was 2, 3 years old, and she supported me on the sofa and rolled baseball balls to me to give him.”
But what jersey was she, a Fan of Red Sox for life, carrying Sunday?
“A white Sox today,” he said, smiling.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
