Boston Red Sox fans love, love, love Texas Ranger Brock Holt. The feeling is mutual.
Word travels fast these days.
When it was revealed Wednesday that infielder Brock Holt would be on the Texas Rangers’ Opening Day roster, it quickly made just as much news with fans of the Boston Red Sox as with Rangers fans.
Holt made a name for himself over seven seasons with the Red Sox from 2013 to 2019, a stretch that included a World Series championship in 2018 and an All-Star appearance in 2015.
He played wherever whenever and played hard, and became the Red Sox’s “Brock Star.”
Holt will be on his third team in the past two seasons, after splitting 2020 between Milwaukee and Washington. The native Texan grew up rooting on the Rangers from Stephenville.
But as the Red Sox Nation cheered his good roster fortune Wednesday, the Red Sox are never far from Holt’s heart.
“I endeared myself to them, and they endeared themselves to me,” Holt said Thursday. “Boston is always going to have a special place in my heart. I was there for seven, eight years, and won some championships. I married my wife. We had two kids. All they’ve known was Boston.
“I was with Boston so long, I’ve built a lot of really good relationships with not only the players and staff in the organization, but people around the city, organizations around the city, people who work in the organization.”
Holt was the Red Sox’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award four times for his work in the community, was the Jimmy Fund captain his last four seasons with the Red Sox, and started the Brock Stars program to provide tickets to one Jimmy Fund patient and family members for Tuesday home games at Fenway Park.
He batted .270 with a .340 on-base percentage while in Boston.
He thinks his gritty style of play is what resonated with Red Sox fans.
“Just how I went out, went about my business, played hard,” he said. “I had a good time, was kind of always a positive kind of guy even on the bench rooting for teammates, cheering for guys, having fun, laughing, hugging JD [Martinez] after every homer, just stuff like that, man.
“They’re baseball fans in Boston, and they want you to go out and play hard every night for them, and that’s what I tried to do. So, the feeling’s mutual. I’m always going to have a little special place — a big special place in my heart — for Boston and Fenway Park and those fans and those people.”
