Fans Accidentally Wander into the Yards
The city of Boston has been reminded that they have a baseball team…and they are pretty decent at the game of baseball. Fan interest is climbing significantly. Boston is starting to set record attendance numbers for the franchise, and is sitting in 3rd place in attendance behind only Brooklyn and Richmond. There’s still a lot of season left to be played, but there’s a bit of a buzz around Beantown as the Banshees are on a historic start to their season. Boston has played 25% of their games, and 40 games in is a pretty solid judge of how things could go for the duration, barring injury or corruption.
We caught SP Leroy Burlton in the clubhouse after yesterday’s game, and he said, “A young man recognized me coming out of the grocery the other day, and he didn’t tell me to retire…so that’s a positive”. The 35 year old Burlton is having a very good season for the Banshees. He’s 8-4 with a 2.87 ERA. “The improved defense has been a big help to pitcher’s ERA” he told us. “The run support has been awesome as well. It makes our job a bit easier”
Just the Right Touch of Gray
At first glance, Boston looks like an extremely young team, as 12 of the 20 rostered players are under the age of 25. Even the Manager is young…Manager Joseph Day is the same age as Leo McKenzie. However, there’s a lot of experience where it counts, as 5 players are also 33 or older:
- SP Pierce Adney
- SP Leroy Burlton
- RP Robert Deadman
- RP Leopold Polk
- RP/CL Price Thompson
The leadership these players bring, and the calmness that they exude are invaluable lessons to the younger players. These are “Been there and done that” guys who know how to keep a clubhouse in good spirits.
How Long will the Luck of the Irish Sustain Boston
Boston is playing well right now, and the fans are loving the aggressiveness at the plate and on the bases. Joseph Day seems to be making all the right moves in the late innings, as the Banshees are 14-6 combined in 1 Run / Extra Inning games. However, at some point, this has to come to an end. Boston isn’t going to play .700 baseball all season, and there’s no doubt that Brooklyn, Richmond, and Philly are going to be hot all season. “The pressure is on the big 3, not on us. Nobody expected Boston to be pushing this hard, and we’re just basically enjoying the ride. Our expectation was to have a winning record…nothing more than that.” Said Day yesterday, “Win or lose, we’re really having fun right now”