Jake Peavy is mostly known as the guy who bought the duck boat, but he’s now starting his first full season with the Red Sox on the pitcher’s mound of the home opener.
“A lot of emotion, a fun day, I’m certainly honored to be the guy who gets to start it,” Peavy said. “Business as usual but a lot of extra emotions I’ll try to harness and channel in the right way.”
Peavy is coming off a strong spring in which he posted a 4.04 ERA in 10 starts.
He is known for being an emotional player and he will be feeding off the energy from the crowd and excitement from Friday’s ceremony.
“Knowing Peavy he is going to be excited if it’s opening day or a game in the middle of August,” said A.J. Pierzynski, Red Sox catcher. “Pretty sure he is going to be a little bit over excited so we are going to have to find a way almost to calm him down.”
Players say the trick is treating it like any other game.
“It’s opening day, it’s a new season. It’s a big day for a lot of people here in Boston so you just got to make it as normal a day as possible and not make it into something bigger than what it is, just another game,” Pierzynski said.
The Boston Red Sox will be playing their home opener against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. The game is expected to start around 2:00 p.m.