Dave O’Brien’s call, and other reactions to Mookie Betts’s stunning grand slam
"He’s a bad man."
Thirteen pitches, one dropped foul ball, and an overturned out later, Mookie Betts lifted a 95 m.p.h. fastball from his shoelaces to the street beyond the Green Monster. Betts’s fourth-inning grand slam on Thursday night gave the Red Sox a 5-2 lead they would not relinquish in a win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Fenway faithful were already on their feet by the time J.A. Happ’s 13th offering of the at-bat reached home plate. As soon as the ball left Betts’s bat, Dave O’Brien launched into a home run call that matched the moment — punctuated by the ecstatic noise from Dennis Eckersley beside him and the crowd below.
Markus. Lynn. Betts. pic.twitter.com/GneepBjQmW
— Red Sox (@RedSox) July 13, 2018
“High, deep left! He crushed it! It’s a grand slam! Wow!” O’Brien, NESN’s play-by-play announcer, shouted.
At least, we’re fairly confident he said “deep left.” That part of the call was drowned out by the loud “Yay!!!” emanating from his partner in the booth.
“I’m telling you, it’s time to party! How ’bout that?” Eckersley asked.
Here’s how the players and managers involved — plus the Patriot watching on — answered that question, followed by the entire 13-pitch at-bat:
Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts:
In that moment, you have to stay focused, especially with that guy in the mound. I was able to foul off some of those pitches, and I got pretty comfortable once I was able to foul off that fastball up.
Since I’ve been in the big leagues, that’s probably the most excited I’ve been. Obviously, everyone was excited, so a big moment in the game, kind of swung everything around. It was definitely fun.
Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ:
I felt good tonight and I felt like my stuff was sharp. I don’t know if they got a ball out of the infield before that homer, so that’s tough to take.
Red Sox second baseman Brock Holt:
That was one of the best baseball moments I’ve ever been a part of. To see him do what he did, he’s a bad man.
Red Sox starter David Price:
Yeah, that was a very big moment. It’s the most excited I’ve seen Mookie on the baseball field. There and his home run in Milwaukee [in 2017]. I say it to him all the time, I want to see that emotion again from Milwaukee. So I’m happy it came on my day the way it did today, and it was a good win for us.
It was one of the best hitters on the planet, Mookie Betts, with a 13-pitch at-bat. Mookie got the best of him. Mookie has gotten a lot of big hits for us. Happ has been a guy who has controlled Mookie pretty well the last couple of years, so for Mookie to come out on top right there, that was big for our team.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora:
As everybody knows here, I know about long at-bats. Thirteen pitches, that’s nothing actually. If it’s 18 pitches, that’s a long at-bat.
Like I said yesterday, it was loud here with Chris on the mound, you could feel it and then that at-bat it was cool to see the fans standing up. As soon as he hit that ball, this place went crazy. The city is starting to like this team. It’s a likable group. They play hard. They show up every day and regardless of the results, they’ll show up the next day. It’s good to see the place like that, very loud and into it.
Blue Jays manager Jay Gibbons:
I don’t think I’ve ever been involved when a pitcher has thrown that much.
You’re not going to see many innings like that. I don’t think I could even describe it.
Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower:
OkkkkkAaaay!!!! @mookiebetts #leggo #RedSox
— Dont’a Hightower (@zeus30hightower) July 13, 2018
