Hazel Mae On ‘Buzz’ Behind James Paxton For Red Sox-Blue Jays Series

Boston Red Sox pitcher James Paxton made a solid and sentimental trip to the mound during his latest start against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

Paxton, a native of Canada and nicknamed “Big Maple,” took the hill for the Red Sox to open up their latest series in Toronto, and delivered. The 34-year-old put on a show for his homeland, pitching 7 2/3 innings of work while holding the Blue Jays scoreless in Boston’s 5-0 win on Saturday, kicking off an eventual three-game sweep over the division rival.

But despite having already pitched in front of Blue Jays fans in years past, the Toronto fans have a never-ending level of respect and love for Paxton regardless of whatever uniform he wears. Former NESN reporter and now Blue Jays reporter Hazel Mae further explained that “buzz” which always re-appears when Paxton is scheduled to pitch in Toronto, during an episode of the “TC & Company Podcast” with NESN’s Tom Caron.

“There’s always buzz when he comes back,” Mae told Caron. “… Fans here are very proud that these guys have gone off to the major leagues and have really been successful. And when we found out that Paxton was coming, we were hoping it would be (Saturday) for Canada Day cause it would be like just so brilliant, like the stars aligned and the planets and everything was great.”

Those feelings from Blue Jays fans for Paxton aren’t new.

Back in 2018 when Paxton was a member of the Seattle Mariners, he tossed a no-hitter versus the Blue Jays, becoming the first Canadian-born pitcher to do so in Canada in Major League Baseball history.

“Remember, when he was with the Mariners, I interviewed him after his no-hitter and there were a lot of Blue Jays fans postgame still hanging around, watching him celebrate with the Mariners,” Mae recalled. “Because for them, one of their own just threw a no-hitter. So as much as we want — we as the Blue Jays fans — as much as they want the Blue Jays to do well, we also want James Paxton, one of our own, to do well.”

You can listen to the rest of the discussion between Caron and Mae here.