Blue Jays reliever will cherish striking out future Hall of Famer
Striking out David Ortiz in his final regular-season plate appearance at Rogers Centre is memorable no matter how you slice it.
The fact Toronto Blue Jays reliever Matt Dermody grew up in Iowa with a Boston Red Sox jersey with Big Papi’s No. 34 in his closet simply made it that much more special for the 26-year-old.
“I’ll definitely never forget that moment,” Dermody said.
“I’ve got a Big Papi jersey back at home. He was one of my guys that I watched all the time. It was kind of cool facing him. It means a lot. Big Papi’s kind of a big name. I mean, I was just focusing on getting the ball down, and I was lucky he swung.”
The swinging strikeout on a slider of a future Hall of Famer continues a whirlwind season for the southpaw, who started his fourth professional season in High-A, before quickly scooting through Double-A and Triple-A, all the way to his Major League debut on Sept. 3 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Manager John Gibbons likes what he sees from Dermody, a 28th-round pick in 2013, with his gangly 6-foot-5, 190-pound frame.
“He proved something,” Gibbons said.
“He went in there and got a big strikeout late in the game and that’ll go a long way for him in my eyes and his own confidence.”
UPTON ON ANTHEMS
San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt once again for the national anthem on Monday, bringing even more attention to a cause that has numerous players across the league supporting in similar fashion.
Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones took the stance that it’ll never happen in a major league dugout because “Baseball is a white man’s sport.”
Blue Jays outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. can’t see it, either, simply answering “No” when asked if he could ever see it happening in baseball.
“Do I see some of the reasons why? Yeah,” said Upton Jr., who was born in Virginia. “I mean, I guess it’s their right, man. I don’t really feel a certain way about it. If that’s what guys want to do, that’s what they want to do.
“Everybody’s entitled to their own personal opinion, and that’s just what it is.”
OUT OF TOWN SCORES
Gibbons admitted he’s been doing a lot of scoreboard watching lately, particularly with the division-leading Red Sox facing the Baltimore Orioles.
“I look, really, all year long, but you really start locking in now because so much matters,” said Gibbons.