A bottle of booze dispatched to the locker of Blue Jays’ first baseman Chris Colabello served as an I’m-sorry-I-beaned-you-I didn’t-mean-it message from Boston hurler Steven Wright on Monday.
“Steven decided that he was going to send over a gift,” said the 32-year-old journeyman from Milford, Massachusetts. “He didn’t have to.… I’m sure that’s not cheap, too.”
Wright’s 87-mph silenced the 36,000 fans jammed into Fenway Saturday when his pitch struck Colabello’s helmet sending him to the ground, where he sat for some time talking with the Blue Jays trainer.
Colabello stayed on the field, trotted off to first base, apparently not injured by the errant pitch. The incident upset the Red Sox right-hander so much that he headed over to first and talked with Colabello making sure he was alright. The befallen batsman left the game later in a standard defensive switch, reported ESPN.
The Boston Herald reported that Colabello claimed his helmet was chipped, he incurred some ringing in his ears, and that Wright was very concerned, and not trying to hit him or brush him back.
Saturday Colabello said that his mom and aunt were in the stands. “I’m sure, my mom probably cried for at least five innings if I had to guess,” Colabello laughed. “I’m sure she’s wondering if my head’s in an ice bath right now or something.
“I’m a thinker to begin with, so, any time I hit my head — I’m like, oh, could I have a concussion?” But Colabello insisted that he was fine.
“He went above and beyond in my eyes,” the first baseman said about Wright.
After winning the first two games, the Red Sox ended up splitting the series after the Blue Jays won Sunday’s game 5-3 and captured the annual Patriots’ Day late morning game 4-3.
Is Wright’s gesture of sending a gift to a knocked down hitter unusual? Colabello says that it happens more than you might expect. “You build relationships with people,” he remarked.
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