MINNEAPOLIS -- Through chaos can come … camaraderie. That’s just how life is for a Major League Baseball team sometimes. The Red Sox thought they were taking a routine getaway flight to Minneapolis on Sunday night, when the airplane was temporarily diverted to Detroit. The reason for the impromptu layover was to let some of the massive winds that were projected for the rest of the flight to calm down a bit. It turns out the skies didn’t calm down, and everyone from the flight attendants to many members on the team’s traveling party called it the most turbulent flight they had ever experienced. Some people on the team charter got motion sickness that led to vomiting. Righty reliever Garrett Whitlock endured the worst of it and was still hooked up to an IV on Monday and wasn’t able to pitch in the game. |
By Tuesday, Whitlock returned with a scoreless inning, and the Red Sox were ready to have some fun with the unfortunate situation. When Ceddanne Rafaela slid in to third with a triple in the eventual 8-5 victory, he made wobbly airplane wing signals with his hands as he looked toward the dugout. For the rest of the game, several others did the same when they reached base safely. The ritual continued throughout Wednesday’s 13-1 romp on getaway day. Rather than dwelling on what was a brutal experience in real time, the Red Sox have found a way to have some fun with it. “It was awful. It was one of the worst, probably the worst flight I’ve been on turbulence-wise,” said Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story. “I don't get motion sick, but it took everything in me not to let it out. Yeah, the boys were struggling. But now we're embracing it.” |
As the best bonding moments tend to do, the wing celebration for hits happened organically. “I didn’t even know we were doing that until I saw other guys doing it,” said Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran. “It took me two seconds to realize what we're doing. I was like, ‘Why are we doing that?’ I was like, ‘Oh yeah, we just had a massive turbulence coming in’, so I guess that's why we're doing it.” Usually when you fly from one MLB city to another, the journey doesn’t produce amusement park analogies. At the time it was happening, there was little amusement from the players and staff who had to endure it. “It was the worst sustained turbulence I've ever experienced,” said Red Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito. “It was 45 minutes straight of left, right, dropping down. I was saying, at least on a roller coaster, you know when the drop is coming, or you know when you're rolling right or rolling left, you can see it. But sitting on a plane, it was like, ‘Oh boy.’ At one point, I kind of flew up out of my seat. I was like, ‘OK, it’s time to put the seatbelt on.’” |
Due to some recent education he gained from a television show, Giolito knew the Red Sox weren’t in any real danger. “Randomly, I know enough about aviation that I know commercial airline jets never crash from turbulence,” said Giolito. “I watched The Rehearsal [on HBO] with Nathan Fielder, and that last season was all about aviation. So that was on my mind. I was like, OK, this isn't like engine failure or anything. We're just in some turbulence, so let's work through it, credit to the pilots, they did a very good job. The landing was really smooth.” And the 2025 Red Sox added a shared experience that could deepen their already strong bond. “Those types of things can bring people closer, that's for sure,” said Giolito. “It’s kind of like battling through adversity.” |
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When the Astros come to Fenway Park to open a weekend series on Friday night, there’s no doubt which player will be feeling the most emotions. For Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman, this will be the first time he’s played against the team he played his entire career for before coming to Boston as a free agent in February. Bregman played in four World Series with the Astros, winning two of them. “I obviously have a lot of friends over there and have a lot of good memories,” Bregman said. “Some friends for life. Obviously, it's going to be different because I've played with those guys, and I've had really good relationships with everybody there from top to bottom. And a lot of good memories, a lot of wins.” The Astros are just the latest division leader the Red Sox are facing. Boston played the Cubs, Phillies and Dodgers coming out of the All-Star break. “They're a team in the American League that's leading their division and is in the playoff race,” Bregman said. “It’s going to be a tough matchup.” Bregman will probably feel more emotion when the Red Sox play a three-game series in Houston from Aug. 11-13. |
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SAME PLAYERS, NEW ORDER, BETTER RESULTS |
Red Sox manager Alex Cora decided to try something new with his batting order, starting with Sunday’s game against the Dodgers. He installed Roman Anthony into the leadoff spot while keeping Bregman in the two-hole and batting Duran third. Previously, Cora had been going with an alignment of Duran-Bregman-Anthony. Why the switch? Anthony’s elite on-base skills and the fact Duran can be more aggressive on the basepaths and at the plate when Bregman and Anthony aren’t hitting behind him. In a short sample size, the results have been tremendous for Anthony (6-for-15, .550 on-base percentage) and Duran (7-for-17, three doubles, two homers). “I led off every game I played in the Minor Leagues,” said Anthony. “So I know the routine that goes into it. And as leadoff guy, my job is to try and find a way on base. And I think I've been doing a good job of that.” Duran, who had a monster July, took it up even another notch the last few days. “I think we saw these last few days what it's allowed him to do,” said Anthony. “It freed him up. When you set the tone as a leadoff guy, you give a guy like Jarren, who’s so damn good, the ability to just drive in runs and kind of free him up.” |
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