Red Sox reflect on trip to D.C.

February 28, 2008 | Red Sox Official Site | By Ian Browne


FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A day after their whirlwind trip to Washington, D.C., the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox had a mixture of awe, perspective, laughter and indelible memories to put in their mental scrapbooks.


After an early-morning workout, the Red Sox were in the air before noon and on the South Lawn of the White House by 3 p.m. ET. And that was just part of the day.


There was also the chilling visit to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where the players got to meet with people that they consider to be the true heroes.


And there was the comedy of watching a helmeted David "Big Papi" Ortiz -- decked out in a suit and tie -- ride in a sidecar of the lead motorcycle escort from the White House to Walter Reed.


In the end, there was exhaustion from flying back and forth in the same day, but no regrets.


"I think the most rewarding part of the trip -- I think you can ask anybody that went on that trip yesterday -- was visiting the hospital," said Sox ace Josh Beckett. "I know I got to hear several stories, and as terrible as those stories are, it's something like that that you get to hear that puts everything in perspective for you and makes you realize how fortunate we are to have people like that will go and do stuff like that. Those are heroes. Like I said, it definitely puts it in perspective for you."


In his command as captain of the Red Sox, Jason Varitek is used to leadership. But this time, it was up to him to follow an order from a leader.


President George W. Bush told Varitek to stand right next to him during the ceremony for the 2007 champs.


"I wasn't supposed to," Varitek said. "He kind of yanked me up on the front of the stage."


The trip got off to a fun start for the Sox when manager Terry Francona joked to one of the security members about riding in the sidecar. Next thing you know, Francona was riding from the airport to the White House with a brisk wind in his face.


"Between the exhaust, the bouncing around and the cold, I could have thrown up at will at any point on that ride," Francona said. "When I got to the White House, my lips were cracked. Everybody said, `You're sunburned.' I said, `Oh my face is windburned.' I was so cold."


When it was time to go from the White House to Walter Reed, Big Papi had his turn to brave the elements.


"It was good, it was fun -- but it was too cold, man," Ortiz said. "It wasn't a good idea, but Tito forced me to do it. He said he did it, so I didn't want to look like a you-know-what. I did it, and it was cold."


Ortiz had fun just seeing how the pedestrians reacted to his ride on the bike.


"Everyone was looking at me," Ortiz said. "People were either looking at me like, 'Wow, that guy must be somebody, or, 'What an idiot.' We've got a photo of it somewhere."


Then, Ortiz reached into his locker and proudly showed a photo of the ride from his iPhone to the reporters who were at his locker.


Once Ortiz and the rest of the Red Sox made it to Walter Reed, they had an eye-opening time with the wounded soldiers.


"You know what it is, hopefully, for some of the younger guys -- it's a chance to put 'superstar' and 'hero' and 'brave' to context," Red Sox right-hander Curt Schilling said in an interview with WEEI-850 AM radio. "Seeing multiple amputees that are 22 with a wife and three kids, these guys are the true warriors, the true heroes. It's staggering to see. If you don't already have perspective ... have it when you walk out of there.


"For me, it's a chance to truly acknowledge them and tell them, 'I'm not just telling you it's an honor to meet you, it really is an honor to meet you.' These guys, a lot of them are Red Sox fans. When they're sitting there and they're missing both legs and they're in a wheelchair and they're trying to get something signed for the buddy that saved their life that is still over in Iraq, it's like, 'OK, how bad are my problems?'"


Before going to Walter Reed, the Red Sox had some light moments with the President.


"The White House was as fun," Francona said. "...The President was hilarious. We had fun, it was fun. Last time we went, it seemed like it was a little more hurried. We were kind of [talking] with him down underneath before he came out, and he was laughing and it kind of carried out on to the event."


The younger players heard what to expect about Walter Reed from the veteran players who got to go there in 2005. But they didn't truly understand until they got there.


"It was great," said second baseman Dustin Pedroia. "I didn't know what to expect going in there. All the guys spirits were upbeat, they were excited to meet us. The truth was, we were all excited to meet those guys. Those guys sacrificed everything for us. It's great to meet all those guys. Everybody's spirits were so high. After what they've been through, I couldn't believe it. It was an unbelievable experience for me just to meet those guys."


Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was equally appreciative of meeting with the troops.


"Going to the Walter Reed and seeing that they are young kids, 21, 22, even younger than that, and just some of the things they had to go through, and for us to come in and cheer up their day, it was a pretty special day," said Ellsbury.


And not too many players with 33 games of Major League experience get to stand so close to the President of the United States.


"Everything happened so fast," said Ellsbury. "It was neat. It was funny. He actually knew his Red Sox pretty well, he was cracking jokes. It was a fun experience."


After the visit to Walter Reed, it was right-hander Kyle Snyder's turn with the sidecar. After all, his teammates weren't exactly begging for a chance. Snyder estimated that his ride was three times longer than the one taken by Francona or Ortiz.


"And the sun was already down," said Snyder. "I knew what I was in store for and all the same, it was pretty cool to be part of a police escort, riding with one of the police officers. It was a lot of fun. My body was fine, but my face was frozen. My face was still cold probably 10, 12 minutes into the plane trip."


On Thursday, it was back to baseball, In fact, the Red Sox had a doubleheader against Boston College and Northeastern University.


Still, the trip isn't something anyone who was there will forget any time soon.


"It was special, to get an opportunity to spend some time with the soldiers and express our appreciation for the freedom that they allow us to have was very cool," Snyder said. "It was just as cool for us as it was for them. It meant a lot to this entire team."