The chants echoed throughout the Fenway Park concourse, as followers streamed via the slim hall celebrating the membership’s first playoff look in 4 years.
Mere ft away, separated by brick partitions which have seen greater than their fair proportion of agony and ecstasy over time, the 2025 Crimson Sox had been gearing as much as do the identical.
By the point the door to the Crimson Sox residence clubhouse opened to the media greater than quarter-hour after the ultimate out, the social gathering was already nicely underway.
Plastic tarps lined the partitions and ceilings. Champagne and beer soaked the carpeted ground. The clubhouse furnishings that usually adorned the gamers’ house was nowhere to be discovered. As a replacement was an overwhelming scent of cigar smoke and a mass of humanity.
A lot of the gamers wore the formally licensed pink “October Baseball” locker room shirt, although a couple of distributed with the playoff merch and opted to go shirtless.
Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Romy Gonzalez and Wilyer Abreu had been amongst that contingent, with the 22-year-old Mayer pouring beer on everybody who crossed his path.
Garrett Crochet was entrance and heart as nicely, channeling his greatest Stone Chilly Steve Austin impression whereas he stashed an additional beer within the again collar of his shirt.
— Crimson Sox (@RedSox) September 27, 2025
As he spoke to reporters in his workplace, Alex Cora eyed a cigar gifted to him by staff proprietor John Henry. The Crimson Sox principal proprietor briefly appeared within the clubhouse doorway himself, although he didn’t enterprise immediately into the chaos.
Then there was Derek Lowe, one of many heroes of the historic 2004 World Sequence championship. Lowe was the staff’s visitor of honor within the Legends Suite on Friday, and he was invited to the clubhouse as nicely.
Lowe and his outdated teammates clearly did loads of celebrating again within the day, and the 17-year large league veteran turned again the clock and appeared proper at residence along with his youthful successors.
A imaginative and prescient realized
This scene was precisely what Alex Bregman envisioned when he determined to signal with the Crimson Sox this previous offseason. Coming off a massively profitable nine-year run with the Houston Astros wherein he made the playoffs yearly however his rookie season and gained two World Sequence titles, Bregman believed Boston represented his greatest likelihood to proceed competing for championships.
Reaching the postseason in his first season with the Crimson Sox was immensely satisfying, he mentioned.
“It means a lot. I really feel like trying again on the yr simply believing on this group, it’s a giant purpose why I wished to be in Boston, believing that we may go to the playoffs and win,” Bregman mentioned. “To really feel the vitality within the stadium tonight, that’s what it’s all about.”
Bregman’s Astros had been all the time outlined by their tenacity and relentlessness, qualities this yr’s Crimson Sox confirmed loads of on Friday evening. Trailing 3-0 within the fourth, the Crimson Sox battled again, tied the sport within the backside of the eighth and gained 4-3 on an exhilarating walk-off by Ceddanne Rafaela.
“That’s form of the make-up of this ballclub, with the ability to struggle via all the pieces and discover a option to get it performed,” Bregman mentioned, struggling to keep up his composure as catcher Ali Sanchez slowly poured a beer on his head. “This season clearly began off robust, so to have the ability to battle all yr lengthy — that’s freezing!”
A very long time coming
Trevor Story had related goals of October greatness when he signed with the Crimson Sox earlier than the 2022 season, however his time in Boston obtained off to a nightmarish begin.
Story’s first three years in Boston had been marked by accidents and different setbacks, with a significant elbow surgical procedure costing him almost the entire 2023 season and a freakish shoulder damage the vast majority of 2024. The Crimson Sox missed the postseason all three years, and all through these instances Story mentioned the prospect of taking part in October baseball was all the time on his thoughts.
“Greater than you’ll be able to think about,” Story mentioned. “I understand how particular it’s right here, simply with the ability to do it with this group of men too means all the pieces to me. These guys have had my again for 4 years and it hasn’t appeared nice, so it means quite a bit to me to do it with this group.”
Story final performed within the postseason in 2018 with the Colorado Rockies. Whereas the seven-year hole between postseason appearances was an extended one, he believes the wait gained’t be almost as lengthy for the subsequent journey.
“That is all what we’ve been working for,” Story mentioned. “The previous three years felt actually unhealthy, clearly we haven’t performed the best way we wished to, however we really feel like that is the beginning of one thing particular.”
One battle after one other
Craig Breslow stood in the course of the clubhouse, his pink shirt soaked and his flip flops sticky with champagne.
Surveying the scene, the Crimson Sox chief baseball officer appeared on with equal measures of satisfaction and aid.
This season has introduced fixed adversity, and whereas Breslow has performed his greatest to undertaking a way of confidence, there needed to have been instances the place a celebration like this may increasingly have appeared unrealistic.
Reaching this level was an excellent second for the group, he mentioned.
“The group has overcome accidents, trades, efficiency volatility and every single day they present up, they put the staff first,” Breslow mentioned. “I believe when you’ve got that sort of selflessness you’ve got an opportunity to do one thing particular.”
Reaching the postseason was a complete organizational effort, but when there was one factor that finally made the distinction it was the membership’s plethora of younger arms. Celebrating a brief distance away from Breslow had been Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins, who picked up the pitching workers early within the season earlier than taking place with accidents of their very own.
There was additionally Kyle Harrison, Connelly Early and Payton Tolle, who began the yr in Excessive-A and who may by no means have imagined he’d be a part of a giant league playoff social gathering by the top of his first yr {of professional} baseball.
“These guys deserve a ton of credit score,” Breslow mentioned, giving a nod to the membership’s pitching coaches and instructors as nicely.
One participant who was not within the clubhouse was Rafael Devers, who Breslow traded to the San Francisco Giants again in June and who won’t be collaborating within the postseason this fall.
Breslow famously declared that he believed the Crimson Sox may win extra video games with out Devers than they could have with him, and whereas we’ll by no means know for certain, Friday provided a measure of validation.
Deep into the evening
Finally at round 10:45 p.m. the assembled media was requested to go away the clubhouse. By that time lots of the gamers had made their manner out to the sector, the place they celebrated with household and buddies and had been feted by the few hundred followers who remained within the stands alongside the house dugout.
Over the subsequent hour the gamers took footage, performed with their youngsters, hugged, laughed, and reminisced. The shirtless trio of Anthony, Mayer and Gonzalez, now joined by Jarren Duran, emerged briefly from the dugout for one final hurrah earlier than retreating again into the confines of the clubhouse.
Lucas Giolito puffed a cigar from the pitcher’s mound, and Lowe gave a giant fist pump to the group paying homage to the one he gave the Oakland Athletics after recording the ultimate out of the 2003 ALDS.
Finally the euphoria of the second began giving option to subdued appreciation. Appreciation for the almost eight months of onerous work they’d put in collectively for the reason that begin of spring coaching to succeed in this level, and appreciation for the chance that now laid earlier than them.
The Crimson Sox nonetheless had two extra common season video games remaining at Fenway Park to play, however they now knew their actual journey was simply getting began.
