Monday, September 15

BOSTON – On April 4, 2016, a 23-year-old shortstop named Trevor Story made his Major League debut with the Colorado Rockies. At that point, his whole career was in front of him.

In the subsequent years, there would be big home runs, important stolen bases, dazzling plays on defense, steady leadership, and, yes, in recent years, more injuries than he’d care to remember.

But on Sunday, as he helped his Red Sox to an important 6-4 win over the Yankees, it added up to a decade of Major League service time.

Winning the game was just another step in reaching a goal for the Red Sox, so they didn’t make too big a deal about it. But Story was a different story.

“We just celebrated Trevor. That’s it. Ten years in the big leagues. We just celebrated that.” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Business as usual [otherwise]. It was fantasy football this morning. They watched a lot of football, and they were ready to play.”

In this season to cherish for Story, he has always been ready to play, unlike those first three years in Boston where one annoying injury after another set him back.

The payoff is finally coming for the 32-year-old, who has played in 146 of Boston’s 150 games.

Reaching 10 years service time with the most crucial games of the season upcoming made the timing perfect for Story.

“These guys mean a lot to me. And they've had my back for the whole time I've been here. That means a lot to me,” Story said. “And playing in the postseason is what baseball is all about to me. And that's the reason why I chose to come to Boston, to play in games like this. It's something that I'm really relishing, because I've only been in the playoffs twice. So I’m looking to make it for the third time in 10 years.”

In 10 years, Story has played 1,054 games, compiling 620 runs, 1,056 hits, 245 doubles, 27 triples, 203 homers, 631 RBIs and 157 stolen bases.

“Yeah, it means a lot,” Story said. “I think about the debut obviously, but just all the people that have helped me get here, the trainers, the strength coaches, my family, my friends, everyone who has helped me get here, those are the people that I think about. The support system that I have is incredible, and  they should be just as much as proud of this as me.”

There’s probably nobody within the confines of the Boston clubhouse who garners more respect than Story.

“Since Day 1, since I met him, he's been a huge leader in the clubhouse,” said Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet. “He was one of the first guys to text me when I got traded over and he's just a great teammate and person to be around. I think that we could all learn a little bit from him and follow his example and end up in a pretty good spot.”

This penultimate week of the regular season is an important one for the Red Sox, as they play two sub .500 teams in the 69-80 Athletics (home) and 73-76 Rays (road).

The competition will stiffen significantly in the final week, with road games at Toronto (87-62) and home games against the Tigers (85-65). That makes these upcoming six all the more crucial. 

Last week, the Red Sox took two out of three in Sacramento against the Athletics. Boston has really taken care of business against the Rays this season, going 8-2.

As the Red Sox look for ways to be more consistent offensively without the injured Roman Anthony, a rejuvenated Ceddanne Rafaela would help.

The center fielder, who has continued to play elite defense all season, proved what he was capable of offensively from June 2-July 13, when he smashed 11 homers in 137 plate appearances to go with a 1.020 OPS.

But he has slumped mightily since the All-Star break, slashing .184/.236/.270 with two homers and 12 RBIs.

Pitch recognition continues to be a big issue for Rafaela, who has nine walks in his last 199 plate appearances.

What else does Cora see?

“He’s been missing his pitches,” Cora said. “I talked to him yesterday. I said, ‘Hey man, try to be ready early, even if you feel uncomfortable, like, give yourself time to see the ball.' And that's something Manny [Ramirez] always talked about it. Manny always mentioned that if you don't see the ball, you're not gonna hit it.”

For Liam Hendriks, the ‘25 season is the one he was supposed to be healthy for after spending much of last year rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

But it went bad from the start, when he went on the injured list on Opening Day with right elbow inflammation. He made a short-lived comeback from April 20 through May 27, only to suffer a right hip injury. In trying to rehab from that injury, Hendriks recently felt soreness in his right forearm and has put the brakes on his comeback, acknowledging his season is all but certain to be over.

However, the 36-year-old Hendriks is resolute in saying he doesn’t plan on retiring.

“I got a new elbow for a reason. If I wasn't going to continue playing, I probably wouldn't have gone through that whole process,” Hendriks said. “There's definitely a lot of desire to get back out there and come back and get ready for the [World Baseball Classic] next year.”

Throughout the season, we are recalling memorable moments from the iconic season the Red Sox had 50 years ago. This week, we look at an extra-inning pitchers' duel that involved an eventual Hall of Famer and another many people think should be in the Hall of Fame. 

It was Sept. 16, a Tuesday night at Fenway, and there was electricity in the air as Baltimore’s Jim Palmer faced off against Boston’s Luis Tiant. While duels like that sometimes don’t live up to the hype, this one did in every way. A crowd of 34,724 reveled in Tiant outdueling Palmer, 2-0. Both pitchers went the distance while walking one and striking out eight. The Sox got solo homers by Rico Petrocelli and Carlton Fisk that were the difference in a game that was played in a tidy two hours and 13 minutes.

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