CENTER FIELD :: The Callup

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The Callup

The East Oregonian has another feel-good article about hometown boy wonder Jacoby Ellsbury. In addition to the normal bits of info about Ellsbury (he was named by his mom after seeing an advertisement for Jacoby brand tractors), there's a great little story about the day in 2007 when Jacoby got the callup to The Show.

We already heard about Josh Beckett telling Jacoby not to "screw it up" - but this anecdote gives a little more insight into Jacoby's state of mind that day.

With an injury to Red Sox centerfielder Coco Crisp, Ellsbury was called up by the big club on June 30 at Fenway against the Texas Rangers.

Hawkins, his girlfriend from Pendleton, drove Jacoby from Pawtucket to Fenway on that memorable day. "I was sick to my stomach all the way there - the magnitude of what was about to happen was becoming a reality. I thought about what I had said when I was a fourth grader in Madras when I told those that would listen, I wanted to be a ball player in the bigs, and now it was about to happen. It truly was an amazing moment and drive to the stadium."

Once he got to the stadium and was in the locker room he thought things would settle down. As he was putting on his Red Sox uniform, star pitcher Josh Beckett came up to Jacoby for what he expected to be words of encouragement. Instead, Beckett looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Don't screw it up."

As it worked out he didn't screw anything up, but instead played well with a couple of defensive gems, hits and a stolen base.

Josh Beckett: motivational speaker to the youngsters. Book him now for your next event! Thanks for helping Jacoby out with those inspirational thoughts, Josh.

Comments (8)

[ Margaret ] says:
on January 10, 2008 7:43 AM

I do love reading about Ellsbury--I'm picturing him all wide-eyed and nauseated pre-game, and expecting Big Beckett to tell him it will be okay and then... nope. Great scene.

By the way, TG, you could easily write a better column than that guy. Honestly. Your writing is so much better than this guy's--more genuine, better flow...

(Even had punctuation errors. See paragraph 7: "Beaver's"!? Come on... where are editors these days?)

[ Jai/MoonstarMA ] says:
on January 10, 2008 11:38 AM

Do you seriously expect anything more (or less) from Beckett than those words? Classic ... probably did Jacoby more good than he realizes. Would you want Beckett chasing you down afterwards if you did screw up?? Good for the kid for doing so damn well. Love him to death!

[ Tex19 ] says:
on January 10, 2008 3:02 PM

come oN we dont expect anything less of Beckett.

[ Liza ] says:
on January 10, 2008 3:51 PM

Looking past the poor writing (I nearly exploded at that apostrophe--I'm such a grammar freak), it's a great piece. Well, how can you write a bad feel-good piece about this kid? I love him to death.

I also love Beckett for that line. Haha.

[ Piney61 ] says:
on January 10, 2008 4:13 PM

I love that his girlfriend had to drive him. I dunno why, I just find it hilariously adorable. Also, that kind of reminds me of when they had Jacoby read the lineup on Fox.com, he looked like/sounded a teenaged boy meeting the parents of his first girlfriend before a date.

[ gretchen0720 ] says:
on January 10, 2008 4:53 PM

I read that article at work this morning and it really warmed the heart strings.

...and Beckett's line just kills me everytime.

[ Meg ] says:
on January 10, 2008 9:28 PM

I did read that Beckett first asked him "Is this your first game?" before his motivational message...although it is fun to imagine him just barking "Don't screw it up," with no preface.

And I think it's worth pointing out (from someone who commented on joyofsox), that when Beckett pitched, Ellsbury batted .545...without Beckett it was .309...so his message must have had an effect:-D

[ LifeLongSoxFan ] says:
on January 10, 2008 9:56 PM

Absolutely adorable! What a guy...and a HUGE friggin' piece of eye candy to boot! **sigh**

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