Red Sox veterans revel in playoff berth: ‘3 or 4 years to get it done’

Hours after the crew plane touched down in Boston in the early morning hours after Thursday s frustrating loss to the Toronto Blue Jays Trevor Story walked into the Red Sox clubhouse to a sight not seen before in his four seasons with the club Atop the lockers ringing the room were large plastic sheets ready to be unfurled to protect the players belongings when they celebrated clinching a postseason spot Hours later as his players donned brand-new October Baseball t-shirts by the dugout and prepared to soak themselves and their plastic sheeting-wrapped clubhouse in beer and champagne manager Alex Cora sought out Story and fellow veteran leader Rob Refsnyder and wrapped each of them in a lengthy hug He did the same with right-hander Garrett Whitlock who had given the ballpark a shot of much-needed adrenaline when he struck out the side in the eighth inning They have suffered the last insufficient years Cora mentioned It hasn t been pretty we know that and to see them celebrate was amazing Detroit Tigers first base Spencer Torkelson slides into second base as Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story turns the a double play in the seventh inning of a baseball meeting Friday Sept in Boston AP Photo Greg M Cooper Whitlock is the only pitcher left on the progressing roster from Boston s last playoff run in Refsnyder and Story arrived in Boston in the ensuing months The signing of Refsnyder a utility athlete with no more than games played in any of his six seasons with the Yankees Blue Jays Rays Rangers and Twins largely flew under the radar Story s arrival sent shockwaves through the region The Red Sox gave him a six-year million contract and though they moved him from shortstop to second base that year had effectively signaled that they were prepared to lose Xander Bogaerts Then the Red Sox finished dead-last and with losing records in and While they remained mathematically in contention until Meeting and eked out a record in their veterans struggled Refsnyder had swiftly cemented himself as a Red Sox fan-favorite and proved himself to be a fearsome opponent for left-handed pitchers but unsure if the gang would pick up his option he contemplated retiring Story and Whitlock were in different situations often concurrently After missing a chunk of due to injuries and greater part of due to offseason elbow surgery Story relished in his first truly healthy Red Sox preseason in only to suffer a shoulder subluxation requiring surgery eight games into the season Even this year as he struggled to a average and OPS in May the shortstop wondered if he would ever get here Would he be Moses helping lead his younger teammates through the wilderness of this rebuilding era only to be forced to watch them enter October without him Whitlock saw enormous success with the club after the Red Sox swiped him from the Yankees in Rule Draft The following three seasons were marred by injuries Last spring weeks after Story s shoulder surgery Whitlock underwent season-ending elbow surgery More than once the two ascertained themselves sidelined at the same time and rehabbing together So when Ceddanne Rafaela s walk-off RBI triple opened the postseason gates on Friday night Cora desired to share a moment with his stalwarts and they needed to do the same It means everything it means everything Story explained the Herald This is the start of what we yearned to do so we re celebrating with that in mind We know that the job s not done but this is pretty sweet We ve been working all year to get this done even three or four years to get it done From his position on the diamond Story reveled in Whitlock s performance How he needed pitches for strikes to punch out the side which lowered his ERA to a sterling for what he s called or manifested The Year of Physical condition since early last offseason How the sold-out crowd stood and watched breathlessly while the righty battled with Javy B ez until the Tigers No hitter ultimately swung and missed at his ninth pitch a mph sinker How that third strikeout sent the Fenway Faithful into an uproar and gave Whitlock s teammates a boost when they badly needed one How an inning and a half later their crew officially brought October baseball back to Boston It was awesome Story commented of Whitlock We shared a moment together out there because we ve gone through it together sometimes In the rehab this is what we talked about We knew we could get here and we knew it was going to be special when we did As Story stood in the clubhouse drenched in alcohol and watching his teammates dance and sing and douse one another amidst the hazy smoke from their cigars he beamed a smile nearly half a decade in the making He turns on Nov and has an opt-out in his contract this year Refsnyder will be a free agent Things can change in the blink of an eye so they are trying to focus on the present Like I mentioned we ve been building toward this for three or four years Story reported It s just fun man Baseball s hard and it s a long season and you never know You never know how a large number of chances you re going to get So we re enjoying it Story s postseason experience is brief He last played in October in when the Milwaukee Brewers swept his Colorado Rockies In other words the last time October baseball included Trevor Story the Red Sox went on to win the World Series Perhaps it s a good omen Reminded of this Story s smile somehow grew even brighter Why not