Will Middlebrooks Told Trevor Story 'New York Smells Like Garbage' When Recruiting Infielder To Boston Red Sox
BOSTON (CBS) -- Red Sox fans will be seeing a lot of Will Middlebrooks in the upcoming season, as the former Boston third baseman will be a part of NESN's coverage of the team. They also may want to give him a little thanks for helping the team land Trevor Story.
In a Boston Globe article by Alex Speier, Middlebrooks shared the recruiting pitch he made to convince Story that Boston was the best place to sign. That pitch included a certain commentary about the home of the Red Sox' historic rivals.
"I was selling it for days. I laid it out," Middlebrooks told Speier. "I said, 'Look, New York smells like garbage and they have rats the size of Shetland ponies. You don't want to go there. You don't want to go to California. The taxes are absurd. You'll lose all your money there. In Houston, they have hurricanes. The perfect place to go is Boston.' I made that joke to him. He got a kick out of that."
Joking or not, the pitch might have helped convince Story to switch positions and join the Red Sox on a six-year, $140 million contract. Middlebrooks, who was drafted by the Red Sox in 2007, only played three big league seasons with Boston. He made stops in San Diego, Milwaukee and Texas before suffering a career-ending injury at spring training with the Phillies. Despite the insults to other cities, he did sincerely tell Story that the Boston baseball market is like no other.
"I explained that to him," Middlebrooks shared with Speier, "just saying, 'If you want the best experience, and you want to make some of the best memories you've ever made in your career, go play in Boston.'"