WOOSOX BAT BOY SHINES
Hopedale teen catches Connor Wong's home run atop the Green Monster
The bat boy for the WooSox says he’s living the dream.
Aaron Buckley, an 18-year-old lifelong Red Sox fanatic, became the man of the night when he grabbed Connor Wong’s two-run homer in the first row atop the Green Monster during the eighth inning of Thursday’s 8-2 win against Cincinnati.
“I definitely got some height on it,” Buckley told the Herald on Friday. “I just kind of jumped up and threw my glove up there, and I think I just put it in the right spot. There wasn’t too much time to think.”
Before the magical moment, Buckley had already been standing up, since the Red Sox had put the game away by scoring four runs in the eighth, which he said helped make the difference.
Kike Hernandez hit a solo blast to the Monster seats an inning earlier to give the Red Sox a one-run lead at the time, 2-1. The ball landed a few sections away from Buckley.
“It was more like, ‘Wow, that ball got out of here quick, so I have to be ready if something is coming near me,’” Buckley said of his mindset that helped him catch not just Wong’s dinger but also fame from Red Sox Nation.
Fenway Park hosted a 20th-anniversary celebration Thursday of the Monster seats, which made their debut during the 2003 season. Buckley, earlier on in the evening, gave fist bumps to NESN broadcasters Dave O’Brien, Tim Wakefield and Kevin Youkilis, who called the game several sections away instead of in the broadcast booth.
“Connor Wong will touch them all, and the catch made!,” O’Brien called. “It is a great night to be in the Monster seats!”
Soon, the WooSox Twitter account posted, “Connor Wong ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶n̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ TO THE WOOSOX BAT BOY !!!!!! no, seriously. our bat boy just caught Connor Wong’s home run.”
Buckley’s phone blew up with text messages.
“I was finishing up all the high fives around me and stuff, and I already had multiple texts about ‘Nice catch,’ sending me the video of it from their tv,” he said. “It really hasn’t stopped.”
Buckley was born three weeks after the Red Sox broke the ‘Curse of the Bambino’ by winning the 2004 World Series, breaking their 86-year drought. The first Red Sox championship he remembers is when they won in 2013, also against St. Louis.
Buckley and his family used to travel to Fenway from their home in Hopedale, near Worcester, once a year. But now that he has his drivers license, he goes to games more often. Thursday marked his first time sitting atop the Monster.
“I would go for any seat anywhere,” Buckley said. “I just love being in the ballpark, but I’ve always said if there’s one seat in sports that I’d like to sit in, it’s the Monster.”
The first-year bat boy for the WooSox will be attending Dean College in the fall for sports broadcasting, and he said he hopes he can keep his summer job through college.
Buckley attended Thursday’s game with his younger brother, getting the tickets as a gift after graduating from Blackstone Valley Tech in Upton two weeks ago.
“It was awesome being able to share that moment with him,” Buckley said of his embrace with his brother after the catch of the night. “We will remember that for the rest of our lives.”
“Between the WooSox job and everything that happened last night, I’m living the dream.”