But it still hurt that the homegrown center fielder left the Red Sox, who will face Ellsbury for the first time in the regular season at 7:05 p.m. Thursday in New York.
Ellsbury, a longtime Boston fan favorite, became the latest Red Sox player to switch sides in the American League East rivalry that, if not as heated as it once was, still is a decent spitting match. While some defections have been innocuous, such as Kevin Youkilis simply needing a place to work after the Red Sox traded him, others have been downright painful.
Ellsbury went after the big bucks, but where does that put him among the other Boston players who’ve headed south?
Photo via Twitter/@iamjoonlee