Clayton Kershaw made his first ever appearance at Fenway Park in Game 1 of the World Series Tuesday night, and it’s fair to wonder how much he enjoyed it given the result and some remarks his pitching coach made after the loss.
After the Dodgers fell 8-4, pitching coach Rick Honeycutt spoke with Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated about Kershaw’s first Fenway experience. He took the opportunity to complain about how close Red Sox fans sit to the bullpens.
“Brutal. Pretty brutal,” Honeycutt said of the bullpen situation. “What I don’t understand is why baseball allows it. You’ve got the rubber right there and people literally standing over you.”
Kershaw was taunted with chants of “Kerrrrshaaawwww” all throughout his start, in which he allowed seven hits and five earned runs over four innings. Honeycutt, who has been a coach with the Dodgers since 2006 and played in the MLB for two decades, said the taunting began when Kershaw was warming up before the game.
Taunting? On the road? In the World Series? You don’t say.
Fenway Park is one of the smallest ballparks in the country, and the intimate setting is both what people love and hate about it. You have to expect a hostile environment when you pitch on the road in the World Series, no matter how close or far fans are sitting from the bullpen. Kershaw started working out at Fenway well before his start on Tuesday, but nothing could have prepared him for an actual World Series start in Boston.
