NEW YORK – Getting booed by Yankees fans is a unique rite of passage for new Red Sox players.
It tells them they’re on the right track, making Boston’s eternal rivals unhappy.
On Friday night, it was Marcelo Mayer’s turn. The Yankees already had a 7-0 lead by the second inning and would go on to win 9-6, but that late six-run Red Sox rally bid was ignited by their long-awaited top prospect; in his first career game against the Yankees, got his team on the board with his first-ever big-league home run.
“I felt really good in my first at-bat, and then I got something good to hit in my second at-bat,” Mayer said as he stood in the visitors clubhouse postgame. A modest assessment of an at-bat which culminated in a 410-foot blast to right-center, which left his bat at 103.3 mph.
A player only gets one career home run No. 1, and while Mayer was able to get the ball back from the fan in exchange for a signed bat and another ball, the round-tripper itself was bittersweet.
“It was a good feeling,” he said, “obviously it kind of sucks when you know, you’re losing. But yeah, I mean it’s definitely a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
Though he grew up on the other side of the country, the San Diego native has been in the Red Sox organization since they selected him fourth overall in the ’21 draft. He’s well-versed in the storied rivalry with the Yankees, and was eager to join the fray; before the game, he told the Herald he’d been waiting for Friday night for a long time.
“I think every single athlete, or baseball player, dreams about being in this rivalry, so to be in it, you know, it’s a really good feeling,” he said postgame. “Obviously like I said, getting a W would’ve been better, but we bounce back tomorrow.”
So, if a Red Sox rookie isn’t going to hit his first career homer in front of the Fenway Faithful, doing it to Yankees fans in their own house is the next best thing, right?
“Yeah, 100-percent,” Mayer said with a smile. “If not here, then Petco (Park in San Diego), you know? That’s where I’m from.”
And as a Red Sox player, is there anything more affirming that your career is off to a good start than getting booed by the home crowd in your first-ever game at Yankee Stadium?
“It’s like music to your ears,” Mayer said. “Honestly I didn’t really here it just ’cause like, I’m so focused on the game, but yeah that’s pretty cool.”
