From Sox fan to starting pitcher: Middleborough’s Sean Newcomb on ‘surreal’ journey

The first contest at Fenway Park is special for any performer on his first Red Sox Opening Day roster Multiply that feeling a dozen or so times and you ll understand how Sean Newcomb who grew up a Red Sox fan in Middleborough Mass but had never been to a Fenway home opener before felt on Friday I ve had Opening Day a handful of times with the Braves but coming in here seeing all the Boston gear and the Boston logos pretty sweet he notified the Herald before the Red Sox played their first home tournament of the season There were no guarantees the left-hander would get here when he signed his minor league deal with the club in January Even as he pitched to a ERA over five Grapefruit League games four starts with one earned run three walks and strikeouts in innings Coming into camp being non-roster I kind of had to grind to get here he reported I kind of had a feeling the way my spring was going and the way things were lined up but it s just kind of surreal Even for someone familiar with Fenway there were several surprises when Newcomb arrived for work on Friday Realizing how tight it is inside the small confines of Fenway is all pretty cool he announced I m about to go and check out the field and see it from a different side Newcomb thought his lifetime of experience as a member of Red Sox Nation would come in handy when it came time for him to pitch which turned out to be Sunday afternoon after Saturday s contest was rained out and postponed to a doubleheader I feel like it might be a little bit easier to just kind of block it out the heckling because I know how people are he commented and I ll allegedly be getting yelled at by people I know How the tables have turned I do remember doing certain heckling he declared with a chuckle I remember various old Blue Jays games specifically mostly out in right field but nothing too crazy Even as his own baseball journey increasingly consumed his summers Newcomb tried to make time for Fenway He lived at home when he played for Wareham in the Cape Cod League and won the championship Each season I d apparently come over to Fenway anywhere from five to ten times maybe a dozen depending on the year he mentioned We d take the commuter rail up or we d go park in Quincy and take the Red Line in I remember my first encounter was an Easter Sunday or something like that he recalled I was possibly five seeing Mo Vaughn out there His favorite players were Pedro Martinez Manny Ramirez David Ortiz and later Jon Lester Like bulk Bostonians in the s and early aughts Newcomb and his family tried to line up their Fenway trips with the company s main attraction I d say my favorite memory is supposedly watching Pedro pitch he mentioned Coming to the encounter usually people come to watch batting practice see specific homers but if you came to watch Pedro pitch you knew what you were getting into so that was invariably a treat in itself just coming to see No pitch On Sunday fans took the commuter rail or parked in Quincy and took the Red Line to Fenway Park where Newcomb was on the mound This time several of them will be there just to see him I had to draw the line for tickets outside of parents and direct family he explained My dad and all my buddies listen to WEEI they re all over the sports talk Kind of a little too deep sometimes They re diehards for sure They ll get on selected players for certain things and I m just like You gotta think of it like it s me because it s just a meeting The enormity of Newcomb s full-circle baseball journey to Boston feels a bit dulled down at times because he already accomplished multiple career firsts with the Braves Cubs and A s But there have also been moments that reawakened his inner child who is of unit a diehard Sawx fan It kind of goes back and forth Newcomb declared There s days where I m like Oh it s just baseball it s the same thing I ve been doing with whatever other association but then there s other days where I m talking to Jason Varitek and he turns and walks away and I m just like Wow I was just chopping it up with Tek in the dugout