The Sox’ signing of first baseman Sean Casey as a lefthanded bat off the bench brings us yet another talented, soon-to-be-the-toast-of-the-clubhouse sort. My favorite bit of Caseyphenalia comes from this FanHouse story from last year, which explains that, truly, everyone loves Sean Casey:
Sports Illustrated asked 464 major league players, “Who is the friendliest player in baseball?” Casey, by a landslide, received a whooping 46% of the votes. Jim Thome and Mike Sweeney took second with 7%.
That same post goes on to quote a Casey reference from the Herald:
When Sean Casey left Fenway Park following Monday night’s game against the Red Sox, the Detroit first baseman didn’t return to the team hotel with the rest of the Tigers. Instead, he caught a ride to Lawrence in anticipation of a 6 a.m. wake-up call to prepare to feed the hungry at Cor Unum Meal Center.
The center is run by the Labels Are For Jars organization (labelsareforjars.org) that Casey helped fund and found back in 2001 with his friend, the Rev. Paul O’Brien. The doors opened last autumn, but yesterday marked the first time Casey had been able to be in action and help feed, and then clean up after, more than 75 people.
Slowly but surely, the pieces are falling into place. Can we get this season started already?
