The “Fortnite” bug has bitten the Boston Red Sox clubhouse — and in a very big way.
The goofy battle royale video game has become a global sensation, and has become extremely popular among professional athletes, including Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward. And in a recent piece from The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey, some Red Sox revealed just how popular the game has become among the team’s players, especially when they’re on road trips.
“Let’s say we get back at 11 p.m. from a game, we’ll play until 1 a.m., 1:30 a.m., 2 a.m. depending on what time our game is the next day,” David Price told McCaffrey. “But day games or off days, we can put some time in.
“We have to make sure, ‘All right we’ve got to eat. Let’s take 30 minutes, eat some lunch, and see you back in 30.’ But you can lose track of time whenever you’re playing it.”
Reliever Heath Hembree tried his best to avoid “Fortnite,” but eventually gave in.
“I saw everybody playing it and they were addicted to it and I’m like, ‘I’m not going to do it because I get addicted to video games really easily,'” Hembree said. “But I gave in and downloaded it and it’s kind of taken over my nightlife.”
McCaffrey provided a list of “Fortnite” diehards on the Red Sox, and it’s rather long: Price, Hembree, Craig Kimbrel, Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, Xander Bogaerts, Matt Barnes, Joe Kelly, J.D. Martinez and Carson Smith.
So, who’s the best “Fortnite” player on the team?
“We play teams of four so we just try to make sure Carson’s on our team and we just follow his lead and he’ll win us battles,” Hembree said. “Carson kind of takes over every game.”
Well, there you have it.
Our message to Smith and his teammates: Let’s see what you got on “PUBG.”
