David Price’s eyes welled up when asked after the Red Sox’s World Series-clinching game what it means to him to be a good teammate.
“A lot,” the left-hander said after gathering himself. And if you think Price’s selflessness as a teammate is being overblown, Nathan Eovaldi likely would be happy to prove you wrong.
Eovaldi was tabbed with a heartbreaking loss in Game 3 of the World Series, which saw the right-hander toss 97 pitches over six innings of relief on the heels of two stellar appearances in the first two games of the series.
The Red Sox rallied around Eovaldi after the 18-inning loss, but Price went the extra mile to ensure that the right-hander’s spirits remained high in the face of defeat.
“Price would not leave Eovaldi’s side,” Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci writes. “He joined him in the training room, where he sat with him as Eovaldi had his arm “flushed” of inflammation by a trainer as part of his normal postgame recovery. He sat next to him on the team bus back to the Pasadena hotel. The next day Price even took adjoining soaks with Eovaldi in the hot and cold tubs.”
Eovaldi didn’t take the gesture lightly.
“Nobody’s ever done anything like that for me,” Eovaldi told Verducci. “He’s a great teammate.”
Red Sox players haven’t hesitated to show their appreciation for Price, but it will be the fans’ turn Wednesday when the 2018 World Series champs roll around the city of Boston for a celebratory parade.
