Jake Peavy wasn’t Jonny Gomes‘ biggest fan before arriving in Boston.
Peavy recently spoke with the Boston Herald about buying a duck boat following the Red Sox’ World Series rolling rally. He noted that the idea for the off-the-wall purchase stemmed from a conversation he had earlier in the season with Gomes, which is pretty funny considering how Peavy initially viewed the charismatic outfielder.
“He was literally the first person I saw when I walked into the clubhouse,” Peavy reportedly said of his first day in Boston. “And I have to say I didn’t have the fondest of thoughts in my head about Jonny Gomes. Just playing against him, I thought he was a lot of show.
“I wasn’t crazy about him at all. But I soon found out he has this talent for bringing out the best in a team. When you don’t play with guys, you don’t get to know them.”
Gomes has played for five different organizations in his career, but him and Peavy never crossed paths until the pitcher joined the Red Sox following a three-way trade in July. At that point, it didn’t take long for Peavy’s opinion of Gomes to change, as it became clear that everyone in the Red Sox’ clubhouse had the same thing in mind.
“One day closer to the parade,” Gomes reportedly replied when Peavy asked him how he was doing upon entering the Red Sox’ clubhouse for the first time.
“I thought maybe Boston has some kind of Mardi Gras-type thing I hadn’t heard about,” Peavy reportedly said. “But then I find out he’s talking about a World Series parade. They all were. It’s August, and they’re talking about it like it’s going to happen. It was crazy.”
Peavy made it clear that buying a duck boat following Boston’s World Series celebration was not an impulse purchase. After Peavy and Gomes broke the ice on Day 1, the outfielder explained the whole duck boat/rolling rally concept, and apparently finished his story by insisting that Peavy buy one after the inevitable parade.
“Once I found out what they were, what they were all about, what they represented, I said I was going to get one,” Peavy reportedly said. “I looked at Jonny that day and said, ‘Absolutely.’”
A new friendship had been formed. A parade had been planned. And a crazy future purchase was officially in the cards for the Red Sox’ midseason acquisition.
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Photo via Twitter/@Bfairs17
