The Red Sox’ championship tour rolls on.
After stopping by the Bruins game on Thursday, the Celtics home opener on Friday and rolling throughout the city on duck boats the following day, the coveted Commisioner’s Trophy made its way to Gillette on Sunday, accompanied by a few members of the squad who helped bring that hardware back to Boston.
Sporting personalized Pats jerseys and matching stocking caps, Jonny Gomes, Shane Victorino and Clay Buchholz, among others, watched New England take the field from their tunnel and then followed them out, with Gomes opting to sprint onto the field in his flashy red boots.
“That’s about par of the course for him, right?” Jon Lester told the Boston Globe’s Julian Benbow. “I don’t think really you expect anything less from him. You know he’s going to enjoy every minute of it and probably do something that nobody else is going to do. I don’t think it caught any of us by surprise.”
Lester followed his teammates out of the tunnel, hoisting the trophy as he was greeted with a thundering ovation from the Patriots faithful. Lester had plenty of time to soak in the warm reception too, as he noted the walk is much further than the trot from the dugout to the mound.
“You don’t realize how far 50 yards is until you have to walk it with a trophy,” Lester said. “But it was pretty cool.”
The left-hander also served as the honorary captain during the coin toss, but he ended up doing the honoring after the pregame festivities, expressing his gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of the special day with the Patriots and discussing the special bond that exists between all the Boston sports teams.
“I know it’s cool for us when these guys show up to Fenway when they win and the Celtics and the Bruins,” Lester said. “I think we spend so much time up here and a lot of the football guys live here, so I think it’s like home for them. So you end up rooting for your hometown teams. So it’s awesome to be a part of this and we thank these guys for inviting us over here and giving us a chance to experience this.”
Check out the Red Sox being honored at Gillette in the videos below.
