Boston Red Sox: Mike Napoli on Triumph, Tragedy and One Boston Day

As is customary every third Monday in Boston, baseball worshipers flooded the streets surrounding Boston’s cathedral in readiness for the team’s 11:05 AM start time, ensuring time for all to catch a glimpse of the conclusion of the Boston Marathon in what is always an epic day of festivities for Bostonians.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth tied at two apiece with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Napoli launched a double off the left-field wall sending home Dustin Pedroia for what would be only the second of eleven walk-off wins that magical season.

It wasn’t long after the game’s conclusion that the Red Sox were informed that they would be unable to attend the marathon. As confusion swept through the clubhouse, fears started to rise.

Napoli turned to a clubhouse manager to ask what was going on. “Bro we got attacked,” Napoli recalled the clubhouse manager telling him of the bombings at the finish line.

“It didn’t seem real,” said Napoli of the tragic event. “At first, it was like, ‘what’s going on? This isn’t supposed to happen.’ Then you start thinking about your family and friends and people in the city that you know.”

Before fear could get the best of him, Napoli sought comfort in his mother whom he called shortly after the bombings occurred. As the Red Sox were leaving for a road trip to Cleveland, a city-wide manhunt ensued for the terrorists responsible for this heinous crime against humanity.

With both men apprehended and baseball returning to Fenway Park five days after the attacks, the city could finally exhale and take the leap from grieving to healing.