I was working at the Westin hotel in downtown Philly in 2011 while the Sox were in town for a series. I got in pretty late our first night there, and had to build production for a corporate conference that was commencing the following morning. At one point, close to midnight, my client texted me to say I need you to cut your crew and go to the hotel bar right now. I was confused. Why was my boss telling me to stop working and to start drinking? We had hours of setup left and the show kicked off at like 8 am. Liz The bar? I asked. Just tell the local guys to come back at six. Im sure well be fine. I didnt resist. She was, after all, the boss. We left things in a pretty good place and I headed for the bar with my video guy. We were chatting as we turned the corner to enter, so I wasnt looking where I was going, and I bumped face-first into someones chest as I walked in. I picked up the Red Sox cap that had been knocked off my head and looked up to apologize. The person I saw standing in front of me was Clay Bucholz. Nice hat, he said, smiling. I could only muster a meek Sorry dude! and we went our separate ways. The only two seats open at the horseshoe-shaped bar were right in the middle of all of the other patrons. I sat down with my buddy and I took in the sights. End to end, aside from us, the bar was occupied by only Red Sox players and coaches. I got to ham it up with Demarlo Hale and Marco Scutaro. Lackey was down there. Salty. Pap. Darnell McDonald. Other dudes of which, at this point, I cant conjure memories. Thats when I figured out why Liz sent me down there. Wed worked together a long time. She knew how much I loved that team. In the morning, we finished setting up and the show went off without a hitch. Around lunchtime, I went downstairs to go outside for a cigarette. On the way down, I rode the elevator with Jon Lester, Alfredo Aceves and JD Drew. Lester was pitching that day. While we rode the elevator (still wearing my Sox cap) I said What do you think Jon, gonna rip a dub today? Jon smiled. JD, still rocking a shiner from a BP mishap a couple days earlier, shook his head and stared at the ground. Aceves thought it was hilarious. With his thick accent he said Aahh rip a dub, rip a dub. I like that. We exited the elevator to see the hotels events manager (a good friend of mine from years of working there) sitting by the exits, facing us. As we walked through the lobby, she gave me the knowingest grin. I was in front of the other guys so I gave her a big huge smile back and a thumbs up held tightly to my chest. She knew how stoked I was. When we got outside, players continued streaming past me to get on their busses. Jacoby. Pedey. You name em. Now, the area just outside the exits was barricaded off so that the team could get to the busses without interference from the throngs of Sox fans that were hanging outside the hotel. While I smoked and dapped players up as they walked past, folks in the crowd were trying to hand me things to have signed, or asking me what I did for the team. I was just there, man. Just there and super lucky. Later that night, after the game and after the show, I was walking back to the hotel from a trip to meet friends at a local watering hole. When I got there, Carl Crawford was outside, delivering two lovely young women to their ride home. I said whats up and asked him how he was feeling. (He was injured at the time) We chatted for a bit and he couldnt have been nicer. This brings me to the point of this whole story. He actually broached the topic of how tough the fans were on him in Boston. It clearly weighed on him pretty heavily. I told him, more or less, Man, youre coming from Tampa to a huge market. You signed a big deal with a historic team. Fans dont know what it takes to do what you do. Just play ball and the rest will work itself out. Looking back on it all he did not, in fact, play much ball for us. 85 OPS+ that year and only 161 games for Boston in his two seasons as a Red Sox. But I sure as shit felt like a coach or something when I had the chance to say that to him. Funny enough, it was June, the middle of his first season in Boston. We hadnt even gotten to the All-Star break. Its wild that those feelings had already developed on both sides. Wilder still to hear he talks/talked about it years later. TL;DR: I was working at a hotel where the Sox were staying. Met a few players and spoke with Carl Crawford. Nice guy. Upset that the fans didnt appreciate him.