BOSTON — Three Red Sox players decided to sleep at Fenway Park on Sunday night.
Clay Buchholz, John Lackey and Mike Napoli slept over at Fenway because of the team’s short turnaround between Sunday night’s game and Monday morning’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, according to Red Sox manager John Farrell.
The Red Sox have a designated “sleep room” players can use to take naps and such, but Sunday’s slumber party is an anomaly. Using it in this instance certainly makes sense, though, as the Red Sox and Orioles finished Sunday’s game around 11 p.m., before then returning to Fenway on Monday for Boston’s annual 11 a.m. Patriots’ Day game.
“That’s why it’s there,” Farrell said Monday morning. “They’re taking advantage of it.”
It’s funny to see Buchholz sleep over considering he was Monday’s starter. Also, Napoli is dealing with some knee soreness after being drilled by a pitch Sunday night, so one has to wonder if that played a factor in his decision.
Whatever the case, the Red Sox certainly have had a crazy schedule to begin the 2014 season because of ceremonies, travel and ESPN picking up the Sunday game before Marathon Monday.
“We would hope so,” Farrell said when asked if getting past Monday’s early start will begin some normalcy for his club. “And yet at the same time, some of the (schedule things) are in recognition of some achievement last year. The schedule is what it is and we have to react accordingly. It’s thrown some body clocks off kilter. In this sport more than any, routine is critical and it’ll be a welcome sight to get back to that consistent start time. This is a quick turnaround. This is a rarity today.”
From counting Z’s to counting W’s, you never know what you’re going to get with these guys.
