kept him sidelined since April 21. To control his workload, Casas was not in that night’s starting lineup. Nevertheless, Alex and Robert’s excitement of watching the Red Sox farmhand persisted. After all, when the New York-Penn League disbanded f ollowing the 2019 season, Minor League Baseball ceased to exist in Vermont. Now, the closest professional teams to Perkinsville are the WooSox and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. As lifelong Red Sox fans, driving the extra 30 minutes to Worcester to see Casas and Boston’s Triple-A affiliate was worth it. When they arrived at Polar Park, they were escorted into the stadium as the WooSox and Bisons were stretching on the field. Though the incoming storm canceled on-field batting practice, Alex and Robert were standing by the home on-deck circle when Casas caught a glimpse of the young fan wearing a baseball glove. “Casas kind of wandered over with a baseball and asked if I wanted to play catch,” Alex said with a laugh. “I wasn’t going to turn it down!” The two spent the next few minutes tossing the ball back and forth, and were later joined by Vaughn Grissom, another Red Sox on rehab assignment in Worcester. Alex was beaming with joy and smiling from ear-to-ear as he played catch with the ballplayers. Robert looked on as his son’s dream was coming true. “Being able to watch him play catch with those two guys––it had me shaken,” Robert said. “Having that interaction again and for a player to do that for a fan––it just grows the love of the game.”
Recounting the moment, Casas said he wanted to do something nice for the young fan and, as someone known for his unique methods of preparing for a game, he didn’t want to bother his teammates’ warmup routines. Afterwards, Casas took the time to autograph both Alex and Robert’s jerseys and sign a baseball for them. It added to a generous array of gifts the Sox’ star first baseman handed out during his time back in Worcester. Following each of his starts that weekend against the Bisons, Triston gave his cleats away to several young fans and signed hundreds of autographs––including one on a $100 bill! But as Casas worked his way towards returning to the Red Sox’ lineup, his greatest act of kindness was what Alex called, “the best times of my life.” Where does that rank among birthday gifts? “This was a great birthday present,” Rob- ert said. “As a fan, this is what you dream about.”
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