A Little Over The Top, Please

Shank goes a bit overboard for the newest member of the Red Sox, Xander Bogaerts.

This is big; something along the lines of the first moon walk and/or the Beatles debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in February of ’64. Seriously, Bogaerts’ first start could be an important event in Red Sox history; like Tony Conigliaro’s first game in 1964 at Yankee Stadium when he was only 19 years old. Maybe it’ll be like Dwight Evans’s debut in 1972 when Evans was 20 and the Sox were in a first-place dogfight with the Tigers.

We went through a phenom false alarm at the beginning of this season when Jackie Bradley Jr. came north with the “Please Don’t Hate Us” Sox. It was the start of Boston’s Redemption Tour back when everybody thought Boston would finish fourth or fifth in the American League East.

Don't let this column fool you. Just remember who was hyping the hell out of Jackie Bradley Jr. in April, and who was also leading the call for a last place finish by the Red Sox this year. And nothing says hip and relevant quite like bringing up an event that happened a mere half century ago. Wait until Shank figures out Sir Paul McCartney's a Liverpool FC supporter...