Jason Bay is off to a great start in Boston. In his first game Friday, he walked in his first at-bat. He made a sliding catch in the outfield. He tripled in the bottom of the 12th inning and scored the winning run. In fact, he scored both runs for Boston as they beat Oakland, 2-1.
But the best part about Bay’s debut at Fenway was the fan reception. Watch this video. It gave me chills. I wonder if he ever got an ovation like that in Pittsburgh — perhaps when he played in the all-star game here.
As one of the announcers put it: “Jason Bay, you’re not in Pittsburgh anymore.”
Pittsburghers tend to get irritated with New England fans because of the Patriots-Steelers rivalry, but the Red Sox fans on Friday night showed just how much class they have.
As I write this, Bay has already hit a 3-run homer in his second game with the Sox. It looks like this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.