[crowd chatters indistinctly]
[single key clacks]
[keyboard clacking]
-[Cora] Good job. -[Giolito] Thank you.
[Andrew] All right, baby. Murphy in the game.
Thanks.
[single key clacks]
[crowd chatter fades out]
[Sean] I think the perception when this project was announced was
this seems an odd time to pull back the curtain
and invite a no-holds-barred look
at a team that is, frankly, expected to finish last again
and to do so for the third straight year.
[moderator] Please welcome to the stage Red Sox president and CEO, Sam Kennedy,
and chief baseball operations for the new year, Craig Breslow.
[crowd booing, whistling]
[Sam] I want you to know that…
-[booing subsides] -…the boos, the anger,
the hate that we see on social media,
we… we get it, we understand it.
It is our job to turn things around so we can make you proud,
and there's only one way to turn the boos into applause.
-[crowd heckles] -And that's winning baseball games.
-And we have to win games. -No question.
This is not the LA Dodgers, where it's World Series or bust
and Shohei Ohtani and Yamamoto
and a million stars, including Mookie Betts.
This is not a team that is now a regular October participant,
and the fact that this project is being undertaken in the face of all that,
I think has fans wondering,
"Where are the priorities here?"
"Is it to enhance the Red Sox brand, or is it to win baseball games?"
[mellow, intriguing music plays]
Given the expectations for the team at the start of the season,
it was something of a pleasant surprise for the first road trip.
[crowd murmuring]
[Sean] And just when it seemed like they were building a little momentum…
-[cheering] -[commentator 1] Hot shot.
-Diving play by Story, but he cannot. -[commentator 2] Oh no.
-[commentator 1] Oh, he's in pain here. -[commentator 2] Oh no.
He is writhing in agony and… and a hand on his shoulder.
[Sean] It was just a crippling blow right out of the starter's gate.
[Cora] I was surprised he dove for it.
-[music continues] -[Cora] And then I saw Raffy.
He went like this, right? His reaction.
And I was like, "No way."
You know, like, he did everything that we asked him to do,
and, uh… I knew how important he was for us defensively.
[Casas] That's an irreplaceable-type player.
That's… that's an All-star caliber shortstop.
A middle-of-the-order bat.
There's no trade piece that can fill that hole.
Unfortunately, as much as I love everybody in the org,
there's nobody replacing him, you know?
He's just the best athlete on the field at all times.
Trevor is just a leader in every sense of the word.
I mean, he just leads by example.
He holds everybody accountable, including himself,
and he expects a certain level of excellence that we all feed off of.
[man 1] How tough was it when you seemed to be in a great place
coming out of Spring Training?
[clicks tongue] You know, missing last season, you… you feel that.
You know, you… you miss your teammates.
You miss playing the game. Um…
But… [clicks tongue] …you know, I get to…
[sniffles, clicks tongue]
[voice breaks] …spend more time with my kids, you know? So…
-[reporters] Thank you. -[reporter 1] Appreciate it. Best of luck.
[man 2] Yeah, losing Trevor Story is, uh…
That's not… that's not what you want,
um, if you're the Boston Red Sox, because, uh, having a great defender,
not a good, a great defender at shortstop, like Trevor Story, was such a luxury
to enjoy for nine and a half games.
[man 3] Without a plus shortstop there… I don't know.
I think you start to fall into a range
where you're putting more pressure on the pitching staff.
And I know the right mentality's to be like,
"Who's next?" and, you know, "Let's keep this rolling."
"Sox are seven and three."
But I just feel genuinely terrible for 'em.
[man 4] You talked a lot in Spring Training about, you know,
Trevor's leadership on the infield.
Who… who among your players now can kind of fill that role to some degree?
Right now, we got a bunch of young guys that they're getting their feet wet,
so, um, you know, I think we have to help 'em out to… to do that.
You know, we got a bunch of, uh, ex-utility guys
that used to play good defense,
so we're trying to help 'em out as much as possible.
[host 1] Back to the phones. Mike is in Weymouth. Mike, what you got?
[Mike] Hey, Mazz, why would I wanna show up to Fenway right now
when ownership's not putting money into the team?
-[host 2] They're in second place! -[Mazz] Exactly!
Don't hang up, but let me ask you a question.
What if the team's better than you think it is?
[Mike] It doesn't matter. At the end, they're not gonna win anything.
I… I… I don't think this city wants just to be competitive.
If we're not gonna win and ownership's not gonna commit,
why should we commit?
[host 2] I thought out there, out west,
they had a little bit of a vibe that "we'll show you."
[Mazz] Right. Yeah.
[Mike] I was offered four free tickets the other day,
but until they put money back into the team,
I'm not stepping foot in that dump.
[jaunty music plays]
[man 1] I'm watching everybody.
Make sure you cross at the crosswalk, okay?
So here we are, Fenway Park, oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball.
Opened our doors April 20th, 1912.
Of the 30 Major League ballparks, 23 were built after 1990,
just to give you a little idea of how old we really are here at Fenway Park.
So follow me in. Let's go see Fenway.
-[jaunty music continues] -[player] Yeesh.
This season's gonna be, uh… It's gonna be challenging for them.
Uh… but we're always optimistic.
Seriously thinking, knowing a little bit about baseball,
I really don't think we're going anywhere this year.
If we can get through these next two months
and still stay out of last place,
we'll be damn lucky.
[Bob] Let's talk about the wall, the Green Monster.
First and foremost, three guys operate that scoreboard.
Very prestigious job here at Fenway. Just be aware though.
No heat, no A/C, no running water, no restrooms inside the Green Monster.
They got Wi-Fi, but that's about it.
[man 2] This is my third year working for the Red Sox
as a scoreboard operator, and I love it.
Super, super fun.
Get to watch the game in a really unique spot of the park.
Just watch your step right here.
You know, we've got these really cool, sort of, you know, little holes
that you can look out through and watch the game, uh, in real time.
We've got numbers here. Uh, numbers sort of everywhere.
[TJ] I really wanted a new stadium.
I really did.
People say, "Oh, no, this is beautiful."
Little do they know that it's really falling apart.
[man 3] It's tiny. The seats are cramped.
I know some of the other stadiums have a lot more amenities.
But this place is home. This is where the heart is, right here.
[director] How's the team gonna do this year?
Uh… I don't think too well.
[chuckles] I hope they do.
I'll still be with them.
We'll be better than the Mets, I know that.
-Heads up, guys. We got cars coming in. -[cop 1] Send it.
-[cop 2] Send it. -[O'Connor] Send it in.
You got the ticket. Talk to Jimmy.
[Dan] I think there's a lot of youth on this team.
-Attaboy. -[Dan] Hopefully they get to the playoffs.
And hopefully they, uh… they surprise a lot of people.
I'm optimistic.
[man 4] We had a great road trip, started at 7-3,
but we've had a couple of gut-wrenching injuries right now,
especially to Trevor Story.
-It's serious shoulder surgery, so… -[woman] Wow.
It's gonna be the season, it looks like.
But, um… I think we're gonna make the playoffs this year.
Andrew Bailey, our pitching coach,
has made a huge difference in the rotation.
[Andrew] Field out in front, just a… just a hair more.
[Polino] If all of that holds up and we can stay relatively healthy,
I think we'll make the postseason this year.
[music fades]
-[player 1] Oh my… -[player 2 chuckles] Oh my God.
[player 1] Dear goodness.
[Andrew] You guys have the same arsenal.
It's just a different slot and a slightly different sinker profile.
[Whitlock] Slightly different? He's throwing the changeup at 96.
-Well… [chuckles] -[players chuckle]
[Whitlock] I appreciate you trying to be nice to me,
but it's not gonna hurt my feelings you telling me he's better than me.
-[Andrew] He's not. -[Whitlock chuckles]
-[thwack] -[Andrew] Just as good.
I'm really confident in the pitching staff we have.
We have a ton of talent, and we have a ton of depth.
I don't know where the organization will go.
I just know that if we stay our course
and pitch the way that we need to pitch, we will be where we need to be.
You are gonna challenge each other for the Cy Young.
-How about that one? That'd be sick. -[Whitlock] That would be sick.
[Andrew] Sabotage his, like, last start in the year, like…
What I wanna say about Andrew Bailey is,
if he didn't play ten years in the big leagues,
his opinions about pitching would be, like, considered ridiculous.
He's not shy to do something that the media may say they don't like
or is weird or old-timers in baseball will disagree with him.
What is best for the players, he's gonna do.
[woman] Fastball usage has been definitely different.
Um, and I know that's something that you had talked about…
[Craig] We are dead last in fastballs thrown overall,
and that is a very, very deliberate strategy.
Historically, fastballs have the highest expected batting average against,
the highest expected slug against,
so if you have a pitch that gets hit harder than most other pitches,
why you would make that the dominant pitch
and the one you throw most frequently is beyond me.
Spin soft play, especially this team.
Couple of these guys are hunting heaters early.
We land. We're down their throats, 0-1.
Use your off-speed weapons. Um…
[Craig] It's remarkably simple.
Why don't you ask them to do things they're good at more frequently?
And that's what we're doing.
[Andrew] Baseball has evolved immensely with information and technology.
And we know what plays at the Major League level,
for the most part, in terms of velocity and movement profiles
and how to help players get there.
When your torso and your pelvis are going home, your knee's kicking out.
Yeah.
[coach] You can see…
[Andrew] Maybe we can show them a thing or two,
if they wanna dive into biomechanics,
if they wanna dive into pitch design, whatever.
You get this way, so you have to kind of pull…
To generate power or speed.
[Andrew] Baseball is a pretty fluid sport.
We have some ideas,
and we think things are going to work a certain way.
We don't really fully know the outcomes.
So my goal, ultimately, is like,
we want our players to be their own best pitching coaches.
[Crawford] I've taken bits and pieces
from, you know, a lot of people over the years.
The best advice that I've gotten is, you know, what… what's the best pitch?
You know, it's… it's a very simple answer, and it was strike one.
["Where Everybody Knows Your Name" plays]
♪ Making your way in the world… ♪
Outside of Fenway Park here, fans excited about the season to come,
but definitely some mixed emotions about how this team will perform this year.
[man 1] They didn't put their best foot forward offseason
to try and make this team better than it was last year, it seems.
-[man 2] What are you hoping this year? -A better season.
[reporter] Well, today, the organization looking to the past,
honoring the 2004 team that broke the curse, now 20 years ago.
-[man 3] Ortiz! -[man 4] Ortiz!
Coming back in town, you know, reviving all these memories,
it feels great, man.
♪ Sometimes you wanna go ♪
♪ Where everybody knows your name… ♪
-[crowd] Go Red Sox! -♪ And they're always glad you came ♪
-♪ You wanna be where you can see ♪ -♪ Ah-ah ♪
-♪ Our troubles are all the same ♪ -♪ Ah-ah ♪
♪ You wanna be ♪
-♪ Where everybody knows your name ♪ -[announcer] Good afternoon.
Welcome to Fenway Park
for the first game at Fenway Park of the 2024 season.
The Red Sox entering with a record of 7-3,
taking on the divisional champions from 2023, the Baltimore Orioles,
who won 101 games last year.
Red Sox coming off a great trip, in which they went 7-3 on the West Coast.
You know, the Red Sox, Joe, came back off the West Coast flying high.
All the momentum in the world,
even with the news of the Trevor Story injury.
It's so hard to see Trevor Story in the sling in the dugout,
after all the work he put in, how he was emerging.
[Joe] He'll have surgery on Friday.
[Will] They now unfurl the 2004 World Series Champions banner.
Something tells me we're about to see some very familiar faces
coming out of the left field corner.
[cheering, whistling]
It just is impossible to overstate what that team meant to this region.
[Joe] I'm sure it's really quite moving for the current players.
Some of 'em may not know what happened in '04, they're so young.
[Duran] I was a young cub, but, you know, I grew up a Red Sox fan,
so I'll pick some of their brains today and see what they have to tell me.
-[man] Pick Manny's brain. -Pick Manny's brain?
-[man] That's what you want. Trust me. -Okay.
I mean, that guy's got more swag than I had,
so I'll have to ask him a couple pointers about some of that stuff.
[Will] You have to remember, when they finally crossed that threshold
in 2004,
people were taking the front page of the Boston Globe to cemeteries
all over New England
and laying it on the headstones of their parents and grandparents.
That's how much it meant to people.
And now that we know what it's like, Red Sox fans expect championships.
-[David] Good luck. -Johnny D!
-My man. -My man.
-Take care, brother. -[Johnny] Yeah. Good luck.
Good to see you, bud.
[Will] Last year, day games were a real problem for Brayan Bello.
You know his adrenaline is pumping here today.
Really looking to set the tone on the home slate
for the Red Sox here today.
Yeah! Yeah!
Let's go, baby!
-Let's go, Opening Day! -[women chuckle]
[upbeat music plays]
[Will] There's a real electricity in the air
as the ball goes around the diamond,
to Devers, who'll walk it to Brayan Bello,
and just about ready to begin the home slate in 2024.
-[suspenseful music plays] -[fans cheer]
[Bello in Spanish] We have a good team.
We need a little luck and to make fewer errors.
And the pitchers need to execute. We're doing well.
[fans whistle]
[Bello] We're good.
This is baseball. Next thing you know, our team makes it into the playoffs.
-[man] Of course. -You get me?
[man] You'll get to the World Series.
[Bello] Yeah. We just need a little luck now.
But I think the team looks good. It looks good.
[suspenseful music continues]
We need one hitter, like Casas, to light up and start hitting like crazy.
-And we need a righty. -[Jean Carlos] A righty batter?
[Bello] Of course. We've got Carita and Casas as lefties.
We need a righty who'll hit the ball over the Green Monster like crazy.
[pop music plays over speakers]
[O'Neill in English] What's going on? Adley, how you doing?
[announcer] In at number 17, Tyler O'Neill.
[Joe] Here comes Tyler O'Neill, who's been on fire.
.357, five homers, five RBIs, tied for first in home runs.
Leading in runs scored with 12
and on-base percentage in slugging and OPS as well.
[Cora] Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
[player] Go, TO!
[Joe] Here's the two-two pitch to O'Neill.
He swings it, drives one, left field, high and deep.
-[crowd cheers] -You can forget about this one.
-Long ball. -[players cheer, whoop]
[González] TO!
-That boy's fucking hot! -[crowd cheering]
[rousing rock music playing]
[González] Hey, let him hit again. Fuck it. [chuckles]
Loud noises.
-[fan 1] Whoo! -[O'Neill chuckles]
Hell yeah! Whoo!
[Will] Top of the fourth inning,
Red Sox home opener at Fenway, 1-1 game with Baltimore.
Red Sox came in with the number one pitching staff in baseball
in terms of ERA, a 149.
[pensive piano music plays]
That's their lowest mark through ten games since 1920.
[Andrew] Baseball is a hard sport, and history says
that pitchers are always in the driver's seat.
Nice.
And we need to even be more so in the driver's seat.
Top shelf!
Throw strikes, B-strike one, B-strike two, B-strike three.
If not, it's contact, and that's an out.
We just need to be down their throats, on the attack,
when our backs are against the wall, because one pitch,
whether it's a bad call or an error or he gave up a two-run double,
can make or break a game.
[inhales sharply] But we never know when that pitch is gonna happen.
[low, suspenseful music plays]
-[umpire] Strike. -[crowd applauds]
[Andrew] Good boy, Bay! What was that, a changeup?
[coach] I think it was a slider.
[suspenseful music continues]
[Will] Shot into left field, Duran moving back, and he will…
-[crowd groans] -…not make the play in fair territory.
Runner will hold at third.
And Duran simply did not make the play.
-That ball should've been caught. -Fuck!
Goddamn it!
[McGuire] Dale, Bello. Me and you. Two out. Let's go. Focus.
[Andrew] Let's take a visit here.
Vámonos! Sigue, sigue, sigue!
[Bello blows]
-Hey, attaboy, papi. Keep getting ahead. -[Casas] Attaboy.
We got two outs here, okay? Uh, changeup's really good to him.
If you want two-seam away, it's fine as well, okay?
-Come on. Pick us up right here. Let's go. -[players chatter in Spanish]
-[Casas in English] Yeah, yeah. -[suspenseful music continues]
[music abates]
[Will] Two and two, with second and third, big pitch, and lined into left field.
A base hit. And that's gonna get two home.
-The defense lets the Red Sox down. -[Cora] Get it!
[Will] Bursting towards second is Cowser. The throw is dropped.
They had him, but Valdez just couldn't hold on.
So not only do the Orioles take a 3-1 lead,
but they don't get the final out of the inning at second.
And, uh, again, the gloves have just not really done it
in this inning for the Sox.
[tense music plays]
[fan 2 shouts indistinctly]
[brass band music plays in stadium]
[Andrew] Come on. Keep us right here. Come on.
[Bello groans]
[in Spanish] Damn it. Damn it!
Damn it! Fuck! Damn it!
You giant fuck!
[in English] Fuck!
[in Spanish] You've gotta be fucking kidding me.
-[announcer chattering indistinctly] -[brass band music plays in stadium]
You can't even throw one more. Quality start? Fuck that!
[tense music continues]
[groans]
This is incredible.
Incredible. Incredible.
[breathes heavily]
[huffs]
[Joe in English] Duran trying to atone after dropping that fly ball.
Wound up costing them two runs eventually, the pitch he swung on grounded foul.
[Bello in Spanish] We're competing, yes. The errors put us here.
[grumbles indistinctly]
[coach] Don't worry about that because we can change that later.
You've done a great job getting guys out.
[Bello huffs]
[coach] You gotta keep doing that.
Stay on the attack and keep imposing yourself.
[Joe in English] The 1-2.
Swing and a miss he got.
What a nasty cutter that was, in under the hands.
[Bello groans]
[Will] The more games you watch,
I just really think, more than just about anything,
bad defense brings an entire club down…
-[Joe] It does. -…in games.
[Joe] It's demoralizing.
And you just can't afford to give big league teams more than 27 outs.
[Will] Could've been a completely different game
were it not for the defense in the fourth.
Bello probably goes much deeper in the game.
You maybe get into the higher leverage relievers.
Tough-luck loss. He deserved much better than he got.
It just is not a coincidence that ever since Trevor Story went down,
the defense has not been the same.
No smiling after the game.
Okay. You're right. Not till the season's over.
[both chuckle softly]
[player] Ow.
[player chatters]
[Duran] Honestly, it just feels like after that error, they got a couple hits,
got a couple runs, and then just…
just kinda, we never got right back into rhythm, so…
Yeah, might have to buy another journal
for how much I'm gonna write about myself tonight, but, um…
You know, it just… shit happens, man. I just… I fucked it up. That's on me.
I just gotta be better.
How important is it, though, for you, you know,
to just flush it and bounce back?
[breathes deeply] Yeah, I mean, good thing it was a two o'clock game,
so I got more time to talk shit about myself for the rest of the day,
and then I'll flush it and get over it.
[Will] Kind of a disastrous day for the Red Sox, wouldn't you say?
[Joe] There's a brittleness there.
[Will] There's just no hint of resilience.
No, no.
After the first home game, the kid that makes the error in right field
is glad it was an afternoon day, so he has all afternoon
to write in his journal how much he sucks and cost them the game.
It almost bordered on self-flagellation.
[geese honking]
[dance music plays on speakers]
[Duran] It's nice to get away from the city a little, have some space.
And last year, I started in Triple-A,
and it's a little bit of a halfway point
between, uh, Worcester and… and the big leagues.
I don't really have pots and pans 'cause I don't really need to cook,
'cause we're at the field more than we are here.
Usually, I just come here to sleep.
[dance music continues]
Hide in the dungeon, and then go to the field, so it's simple life.
I had a fan yell at me yesterday.
They were like, "Oh, you play in the big leagues."
"You should drive something better than the Bronco."
And I was like, "What did you say?"
I like the Bronco. I mean, it's simple. Gets me point A to point B.
[engine revs softly]
Oh, yeah, if you hear a whacking,
it's just the antenna on these little pipes.
Happens. [chuckles softly]
[antenna clanking, scraping]
I remember the first time I drove out here, I was like, "Oh, fuck."
[antenna clanking]
When I was coming up, I was like, "I don't really care about the money."
I just always wanted to be great. I mean, I always wanted to be good.
And I wanted to make my dad proud.
Like, there was instances where we'd be down the street at the park hitting,
and I would be just absolutely hitting terrible that day.
And he'd be yelling at me,
and I'd get all upset, and I'd run home, because we were… we were down the street.
So I'd literally go home.
He wouldn't pack up any of the stuff because he knew I was gonna come back.
He would literally just sit there on the bucket and wait.
I'd go home, sit there, be pissed.
And then I ended up running back over there
and… and doing baseball stuff with him anyways.
So I was like, "He knew."
We talk almost every day.
Like, the other day, like, I didn't get a hit in a game,
so he called me.
I was like, "What's up, Dad?" He goes, "Hey."
"You're squatting more in your stance. Is everything going good?" [chuckles]
I'm like, "I know what the fuck I'm doing."
Like, "You don't always have to, like, coach me up,
'cause I already have like a million coaches."
But at the same time, I started to realize, like, "Oh, shit."
You know, like, it's not just that easy to turn off as… as a dad
and, like, as somebody that's coached me my entire life.
[producer] How about your mom?
She's the peacekeeper.
But she's tough. She's really tough on me. She's tough on me too, but she loves me.
But when I played football, she was a different animal.
Like, I'd get hit or something,
I'd, like, go down, like I got a dead arm or something,
she's like, "Get up! You're fine!"
I'm like, "Dang. What happened to my mom?"
[producer] Do you like Boston?
[Duran] I do, yeah.
I do.
At first, I didn't, 'cause I was like…
I didn't know if I could do it,
'cause I, like, struggled at first.
And I was like, "Damn. Am I gonna be able to do this?"
It just takes a little bit of confidence to play here, man. Like…
You just gotta be able to know, like,
"Hey, I'm gonna… I'm gonna mess up sometimes,
but, like, I'm going to make up for it."
Like, "I'm going to get the next one," or something like that, so…
[commentator 1] Duran, E7, dropped the routine catch.
Like, he probably, after that game,
went in the gym, deadlifted 600 pounds and felt so much better.
And maybe he wrote in his journal, like, "I sucked today. I need to be…" Whatever.
[commentator 2] They also lost 7-1. It wasn't the reason they lost that game.
[commentator 3] But I do think it's an appropriate time
to readjust our expectations for Brayan Bello.
[commentator 4] As filthy as this stuff looks,
I mean, hitters are seeing him well.
They're connecting. They're barreling his pitches.
[Bello in Spanish] Last year, I pitched against Houston at home.
That team killed me.
And there was a fan who said,
"I hope your family dies
and a car hits you on the way out of the stadium," or something like that.
I just said, "What?"
[sputters] Seriously?
You're so frustrated that you're hoping somebody
gets hit by a car leaving the stadium?
I don't get that, to be honest. I…
Those fans are loyal, ya hear?
[Bello] Nah. Loyalty is one thing.
If you're loyal, you support your player through…
-The good and bad. -[Bello] …the good and bad.
But that… that… To me, those are fucked-up people.
To wish death on a baseball player you watch every day?
That's messed up.
You'll see. I'm not lying. You'll see this year.
Hopefully, it won't happen, and they'll be better this year.
They'll get a grip. They'll have their head screwed on right.
[expectant rock music lifts]
[Glenn in English] In Boston, you have to be thick-skinned.
And you also have to realize that fans are passionate,
and if you're not playing well, fans are gonna respond.
[music continues]
[Joe] Good evening, everybody. Welcome to Fenway Park.
Not a bad night for April 10th,
as the Red Sox and the Orioles play game two of this series.
[player] Ey! Ey! Ey!
[commentator 1] The Red Sox hoping that they can turn the page
on a really disappointing opening game last night
that featured some real raw emotion from Jarren Duran.
[Casas] Everybody knows what it feels like to fail at some point.
It doesn't feel good.
But there's a lot of luck involved.
There's a lot of factors that go into whether you're gonna have a good result.
[commentator 1] Two down, bases empty.
-Here's Duran. -[ball thumps]
[Casas] Nobody who steps out onto that field has a bad swing
or has bad mechanics.
It's just how well they can flush whatever's been going on
and focus on the next outcome.
[commentator 1] Feels like a big game for him.
-Bounce back, move on. -[ball thumps]
He was so emotional in the clubhouse yesterday,
blaming himself for the loss.
He's been so open about his battles with confidence and mental health,
so I feel like we really want him to turn the corner quickly.
-Here's a liner into left field. -[crowd cheers]
He's thinking about two. Makes the turn, and he will put the brakes on.
[cheering, applause]
That was a good read for Duran.
[Duran] I mean, I still feel like I'm the smallest guy out there,
'cause, like, I just… I grew up my entire life being that small kid
and… and always having to work twice as hard as everybody
and… and hustle twice as hard.
But, like, I feel like that kind of just, like, paved the way for how I am
and never being satisfied with anything and always trying to work my hardest.
[commentator 1] You'd be tempted to see if Duran thought about going here
to jolt the offense a little bit,
but the way Tyler O'Neill's swinging it,
I'm not sure, especially with a lefty on the mound.
Here is Tyler who drives one high into shallow right field.
Out goes Holliday.
Difficult chance for him, and he's not gonna get there!
-[crowd cheers] -Rounding third is Duran.
He's gonna come home and score.
The throw is high.
-[raucous cheering] -Headfirst slide for Duran.
[Andrew] Hell yeah.
[inaudible]
[Andrew] Speed never slumps.
[coach] Hey, attaboy, baby!
-[Cora] That was good. Good job. -[overlapping chatter]
[Andrew] Attaboy, Dory. Attaboy. Way to play the game.
Atta baby.
[chuckles] Oh my God.
[Cora] He's the perfect player
for this environment, the baseball environment.
Because a fucking single against a righty is a fucking double.
-Yeah. -They ain't gonna do shit like that.
Yeah. Wild.
-Yeah, sometimes-- -Yeah, I, uh…
-Sometimes too hard on himself, you know? -Yeah.
-[Cora] Like yesterday. [chuckles] -[Andrew] Yeah. Yeah.
[commentator 1] Really remarkable what Jarren Duran can do to impact the game.
[Cora] How's it going, kid?
[muffled cheering]
[Joe] 3-0, Boston. Red Sox have out hit the Birds six to two.
-The pitch. -[ball thumps]
Get outta here. Nope.
-[Joe] Foul left side out of play. -No.
I just wanna be here in the presence of hitting a home run with you.
Whoo! [chuckles]
[Joe] Two balls, two strikes, two outs.
-[ethereal, pensive music plays] -[Casas exhales]
The baddies are out tonight. I'll tell you.
I have the best swing. I have the best swing in the world.
I don't need to change. I don't need to think.
I got the best swing in the world.
[exhales]
I got the best swing. I don't need to change, think nothing.
I don't need to do anything different.
Just keep going at him. Just keep going at him.
Keep that… keep that square.
Keep that square. Keep that square right here.
Keep that square right here. Right here.
[exhales]
-Let's go. -[crowd cheers]
[commentator 1] And that's gonna be a close take for ball four.
So Devers on with two down.
[Casas grunts]
[commentator 2 chuckles] No, I don't think it was a strike. No, it was at his neck.
Never mind, it was just an inside fastball, called for a ball.
[commentator 1] But the reaction…
[commentator 2] The helmet almost flew off, the bat up in the air.
-That got me. -[Casas exhales]
Down.
[umpire] Down and low.
[Casas] If I'm not hitting, if I'm not producing,
ultimately, I'm not adding much value to the team.
[huffs]
And if you're doing bad and you're losing,
you feel like you're the reason why you're losing.
So let's say I hit a home run…
-[sharp clack] -[grunts]
[crowd murmurs]
Get out!
Is it gone?
[music lifts]
[Dan] Yes!
[crowd cheers]
[commentator 1] Home run the other way. Casas got it outta here.
-[man] Two. -[Dan] Two!
Attaboy, Casas.
[Casas] The only time that I feel success
would be the millisecond that the ball is hitting my bat.
As soon as I'm rounding the bases,
as soon as I've scored, I'm now a teammate.
Good job, baby. Let's go.
[Casas] I try to relay that, "This is what I was looking for."
"This was the result I got. This is what you should do."
I don't have the genetics of a baseball player per se,
but I have the genetics of a hard worker.
Somebody who's willing to sacrifice anything,
to go out there and put on a good show for the fans.
[pensive music continues]
[commentator 1] Some cushion for the Red Sox, thanks to Triston Casas.
And now, it is Isaiah Campbell on the mound.
That's on the ground on the right side, past the dive of Casas.
[exhales deeply]
Line drive into right field. Gonna get down for a hit.
Orioles are in business in the sixth.
O'Neill misplays it, and he can't find the baseball.
He picks it up and throws to second. That gets past González.
[up-tempo music plays]
Pitch to Cowser.
And that's a line drive into left field. His great series continues.
One run scores. Mullins coming to third.
-Hold two! -[commentator 1] Bobbled by Duran.
The Orioles score two, still nobody out, the 1-0.
On the ground, hard, and a fair ball inside the third base bag.
That's gonna go to the corner.
This game could be 5-5 any second.
[commentator 1] Shaky outing for Campbell.
He went an inning, allowed four hits and three runs.
On comes Chris Martin for the seventh inning.
The Red Sox leading the Orioles 5-3.
The O's have the heart of the order due up.
-[Andrew] Hey! -[Cora] Come on. Come on. Fuck!
Every season, you walk away from a handful of games,
and you're like, "Man, we should've had that one."
[commentator 1] The 1-1 gets past Connor Wong.
[Andrew] Get the play! Get the play!
[commentator 1] That was totally wild.
[Andrew] And I just feel that there's been games
early in the season that we just left on the table.
[commentator 1] Here's the pitch.
That's in the dirt. It kicks back toward the mound.
Martin slides, throws in the dirt to Wong.
A run has scored. It's 5-4.
And the troubles for Martin and the weirdness of this inning continue.
I'm not saying there's a special type of player that can perform here,
but you see it, man, like… it's loud.
[Andrew] Come on, Marty! Come on, Marty!
[commentator 1]Two and two.
Here's the pitch.
High fly into left center field. This thing is way back.
-And it is gone! -[fans cheer]
[commentator 1] Into the Monster seats.
A three-run homer for Jordan Westburg.
And the Orioles come all the way back, and they lead it 7-5.
Oh. That was crushed.
-[Dan] Damn it. He got a three-run homer. -Three-run, yeah.
Brutal.
[commentator 1] It was such a great start to this game.
Red Sox had a five-run edge. Baltimore seven unanswered.
Real disappointment.
The Red Sox have dropped two in a row to the O's.
And, uh, this one, in many ways, more disappointing than yesterday.
-[man] At home. Is that one something? -[woman] 5.73.
He had a 5.73 ERA at home in 99 innings.
Compared to a 3.59 ERA over…
[Cora] The last few years, whenever the season started,
I always unfollow our beat writers.
You know, like, I want no part of them on social media.
You go on the road,
on the other side, there's probably like three beat writers.
Here, it's always ten, 12. They're always around, right?
Most of them, they enjoy when we win.
You know, probably at their house.
-[keyboard clacking] -Not here.
You know, like, I don't think they like when we lose.
But certain times, to get clicks, you know, or likes,
or whatever you wanna call it, the headline is negative.
[rock music plays]
It takes a certain kind of player to succeed in Boston.
[keyboard clacking]
And anytime I say that, it sounds a little self-serving
because it sounds as if you have to please me
or my colleagues, or you have to meet certain expectations
that we have set for the players.
But it is different in terms of
the amount of media coverage and the intensity of it.
That can feel a little overwhelming if you're a player.
[Ian] You can't cover a baseball team every day
with the emotions of a fan, the ups and the downs.
So what you're doing as a journalist is you're looking for the storylines,
giving readers everything they want to know, what's going on,
not just what's happening, but why it's happening.
[Speier] There are sometimes unpleasant truths about player performance
that they might object to, and that's okay.
If they have an issue with it, we can discuss it,
figure out where in our difference of opinion
or at least vantage point lies.
[Joe] Ground ball hit hard to short, right through the legs of David Hamilton.
Into left field it goes.
That was a double-play ball.
He had to go a little bit to his right to try to get in front of it,
and it's skipped right on through him.
[Cora] When you got Trevor Story, who is hurt again, right,
who's gonna step up?
[rock music continues]
[Joe] Ground ball, hit to short, here's the throw to second, high!
Another Red Sox error.
[Will] He is killing the Red Sox defensively right now.
[Joe] Swing and a ground ball hit to third, and it's bobbled by Reyes.
[Cora] The most important people here,
besides the players, are the fans.
You know? And they want us to be good. They want us to be great again.
But right now, it's just… It's been tough to watch.
[Joe] Grounds this one to second.
Reyes bobbles it, picks it up, underhands to second now.
And they don't get the double play. They get one, but a run scores.
Should've been two.
[Will] You don't blame the fans for booing.
The middle infield defense right now, Joe, is just not Major League level.
[woman] The fans here are so passionate, and they're so involved.
As long as these fans are mad, they still care.
And they're mad because they care.
[Joe] And a popup first base side, Casas coming over.
-[Cora] Talk to him! -[players] You got room! You got room!
[player 2] You're all right.
[Joe] And he dropped it!
[crowd groan, boo]
[Cora] Hey, let's pick it up! Let's fucking pick it up! Let's go!
Let's go! Let's fucking pick it up!
It's a fucking big league game. Let's go. Let's fucking pick it up!
Let's go. Enough of this shit!
Fucking pick it up. Let's go!
Everything is tight right now.
-[Duran] Fuck! -[Cora] You see it. You see it.
[Duran] Goddamn it, man!
[Joe] Rips a bullet down the right field line, for a base hit,
and it'll advance the runner to third, bobbled now, gets away from Abreu.
Out of 26 guys, I think… we got 22
that have less than three years' service.
And right now, you see it. We got… [scoffs] We got a bunch of rookies.
So they're important for the team, so we gotta make them feel comfortable.
[in Spanish] You have to stay calm. Errors like that, for you, that's nothing.
-[Abreu] I know, but that pisses me off. -[Cora] Yeah, yeah.
You good? Come on. Turn the page, keep going.
[Abreu] I can strike out five times, and that's fine.
But defensive errors, that's what pisses me off the most.
[Cora] Yeah, but stay calm.
[rock music continues]
[man 1 in English] If we're gonna win baseball games, we have to play loose,
we have to play free, we have to have fun out there.
[man 2] They feel like they're on the verge, all the time,
of committing an error.
[man 1] The craziest part is,
we watched the Sox be one of the best fielding teams
in all of baseball the first week of the season.
Now, you're at the bottom of just about everything.
I mean, there was one thing after the next,
and they just got absolutely freaking skewered all over the place.
They weren't entertaining. They weren't good.
People are pissed that the product sucks.
Plain and simple.
And their youth is really starting to show.
[music ends]
[street performers drumming, vocalizing]
-[woman 1] Can I get a selfie? -[Duran] Yeah.
-[woman 1] Thanks, Jarren. -[man 1] Wait a minute.
-[woman 1] Oh, that's awesome. -[man 2] All right, one more, please.
[man 1] Want me to take a picture of you?
-Thanks. -Thanks, Jarren.
-Good luck. -Thanks, Jarren, so much.
Oh, I love his old-school Bronco.
[man 3] Thanks, Jarren. Thank you, Jarren.
[fans chattering indistinctly]
[motor chugging, cuts out]
[motor chugging continuously]
[motor stops]
[cell phone buzzing]
Let me FaceTime you.
Oh, shit. Now I can't fucking see.
When I choose the starter relay…
Oh.
-[Casas huffs] What's up, bro? -[Duran] What's up?
Okay. [grunts]
You need a… you need a skateboard.
I know, but I'd probably get in trouble for having my skateboard.
Okay, like, when I turn the key,
I hear, like, uh… the battery go and everything,
but when I turn it, it's just absolutely nothing.
Not even a click, nothing.
Like literally, I'm looking, like, the fan goes on,
the grill goes on,
all the lights.
[Casas] Hello, um…
I got a… a broken-down car, um… uh… outside of Fenway Park
on Jersey and Van Ness Street.
Not sure what's wrong with it. It just won't start. Um…
Is there any way that I could get, uh… somebody here to help me, please?
Man, this fucking booklet is like a fucking…
what I used to have in college.
[Casas] Got you. Um…
Do you know anybody in particular that… that might be of service to me?
[man 4 on phone] Uh… I mean, you don't have AAA or something?
I… I read that this was a AAA. So what's the…
[man 4] This is a limousine service.
Okay, okay, got it. I'll make an adjustment. Thank you.
Split in the middle?
[man 5] The split in the middle.
[man 6] Turn it, if it pops the fuse, you're split right down the middle.
[Casas] I don't want you sticking your hands in that.
-[chuckles] -It's all right. I do this all the time.
Those are hundred-million-dollar hands.
-Stop. -Come on now. Stop playing with that.
That's complicated. It looks complicated, man.
[scoffs] I… I wouldn't be sticking my fingers in that.
God, this thing's a fucking bitch and a half to get out.
-[man 7] Love you, Triston! -[woman 2] I love you, Casas!
Thanks, baby. I love you too.
[man 7] That's Triston Casas right there. He's the best player on our team.
He knows the strike zone better than anyone else.
[man 8] No, he doesn't.
[man 7] He knows the strike zone better than the umpires!
So am I supposed to hit the box or the wires?
[man 6] Just smack it. Like, it's, uh… The relay, just smack the body of it.
[banging]
There are specialists for that.
You know, we play baseball.
We don't… We don't fix cars, JD. We just… We don't.
So… [sniffs]
-[ignition clicks] -[engine starts]
[engine rumbling steadily]
-[Casas] Holy shit. -[Duran] Thank fucking God.
-[Casas] That was sick. -[Duran] That was grindy.
-[Casas] That was awesome. Yeah. -[Duran] That was grindy.
[engines revs]
[intriguing guitar music plays]
[Sean] We still have a lot of margin to improve.
This week, I don't think it's a reflection of who we are.
And it's gonna get tougher.
But, uh, their job is to play.
My job is to maximize their talent and put them in a spot to be good.
-Alex, how are you doing today? -Uh, I'm doing okay. Doing okay.
-I was better last week. [laughs] -[man 1] Uh-huh. Well, that makes sense.
[woman] It seems like in a couple of the games now,
there are these small mental mistakes defensively,
whether it's Devers ending up in the outfield
and not getting called off by O'Neill, or whether it's, uh, Casas…
[Cora] Yeah, I can… I can… I can walk you through all of them.
[woman] Yeah, so these small mental errors,
do you find any common denominator
that you're able to identify with these mental hiccups?
I wanna say inexperience, but at the end of the day,
we have played the game for a long, long time.
Uh, it's just a different stage, right?
And, uh… sometimes, it's, like, feeling the pressure of being in the big leagues
and trying to prove a point, or just, you know, thinking the wrong thing.
You know, like, at this level, those mistakes,
they're… they're gonna cost you.
I guess, were you anticipating, maybe,
that there was gonna be some more growing pains like this to start the year?
[Cora] Um, not the way we played in spring. Uh…
Disappointing, to be honest with you, surprised too,
but we can't stop working, you know.
And hopefully it gets to the point that we just play.
-[man 1] We appreciate your time. Thanks. -Thank you. Be well.
[man 2] All right, Alex Cora…
[Cora] For being a big market, I still believe it's a small town.
You know, like, Boston is small, and people listen.
[expectant rock music plays]
You have to make sure you control the narrative.
Let's go.
Like now, with all the injuries, it's like, hey,
I know it's hard to say, it's harsh, you know, like,
but we gotta turn the page.
You know, like, Trevor's not coming. Somebody else needs to step up.
[expectant rock music continues]
The most important thing here, we gotta breathe.
We gotta be able to breathe.
[Will] Duran coming in, he slides and makes the play.
[Cora] Good things are happening, we have to breathe.
When bad things are happening, we have to breathe too.
[Will] Powered it right past him at 95 miles an hour.
Fuck that guy.
[Cora] I was a utility guy for 13 years. I hit .230 in the big leagues.
I made errors. I fucked up bunts. I made, you know, mistakes running bases.
You know, I know how it feels,
what is to be good and to struggle.
You know, like, that… that's what we're here for.
Players, coaches, training staff, we're a family.
And when I say it, I mean it.
I will protect you. I will help you.
Sometimes I gotta be very honest because if I'm not honest in this market,
it fucking sucks.
They're gonna fucking bury us, okay?
There's 30,000 fans rooting for the home team,
and when we struggle here, they still show up.
Do they like it? No, they hate it. They hate it.
We're gonna be good. We're gonna have some tough stretches.
But we have to fucking respirar.
[Joe] Wilyer swings, hits one to right field,
and it's dropped!
-[crowd cheers] -[Andrew] You gotta go!
Attaboy! Hell yeah!
[Will] Masterful job by Alex Cora, managing this club, keeping them engaged.
It's a resilient group, and they've shown some real fight.
[Cora] The same goal applies.
Make it to the playoffs and win the World Series.
But for that to happen, we have to fucking respirar.
Breathe.
-Respirar. -[Casas exhales]
-[Cora] You gotta fucking respirar. -[music stirs]
-[man] Oh shit! -[crowd murmurs]
[Joe] There's a drive to right field, hammered high and deep.
It is back, and it is long gone into the bleachers.
[crowd cheers]
[Joe] Tremendous shot off the bat of Triston Casas.
[players laugh, cheer]
[Will] Maybe that's the sigh of relief this first-base dugout needed.
That's a really important swing.
[rock music abates]
[serene, ethereal music plays]
[music fades out]