The Red Sox played Northeastern University today in a scrimmage, and former Bucco Joel Hanrahan started on the hill for Boston. He tossed the unofficial first pitch of the year:
First pitch of 2013 a called strike from Joel Hanrahan
— Gordon Edes (@GordonEdes) February 21, 2013
He threw 17 pitches, 13 for strikes, and struck out two batters. Here’s what David Ross had to say about the Hammer’s performance:
“Joel really looked good. I thought Joel’s ball was down, and his fastball was really jumping out of his hand. Early on you don’t want to do anything to speed up the college guys’ bats, but you also want to get work in. It’s kind of a tough thing calling a guy like that, but I thought Joel looked really nice.”
A quote from Hanrahan, via NESN’s Jenny Dell:
Joel Hanrahan: @hanrahan52 “We believe that we can be one of the best teams in the league…This is a new year, new game, new team.” #RedSox
— Jenny Dell (@JennyDellNESN) February 21, 2013
Former FSN Pittsburgh personality Trenni Kusnierek, currently working with CSN New England, provides the classic small-market-to-big-market scenario:
Joel Hanrahan comes into #RedSox interview room & has a “Pirates to Sox Moment”…surprised by press conference style post game in spring.
— Trenni Kusnierek (@trenni) February 21, 2013
Mike Petraglia of WEEI captured some footage of Hanrahan’s inning of work:
It’s going to be weird seeing Hanrahan, a Bucco fan-favorite, pitching for the Red Sox in 2013. We’ll definitely miss his ninth inning entrance:
Best of luck to him in Beantown.
Jason Grilli takes over the closing duty for the Pirates; there’s only “Jason Grilli” (39) days until Opening Day.
