David Ortiz insists Torii Hunter Jr. uses his locker at Fenway Park
Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz is keeping it all in the baseball family for Saturday’s college football game between Boston College and No. 4 Notre Dame.
At Ortiz’s request, Notre Dame wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr., the son of recently retired MLB outfielder Torii Hunter, will be using Ortiz’s locker in the Red Sox home clubhouse.
You might be thinking that’s strange because it’s the Red Sox clubhouse and Boston College is playing in the game. It’s actually a home game for Notre Dame as part of the Shamrock Series, so it’s the Fighting Irish who will take up shop in the home clubhouse.
This will be the first college football game to be played at Fenway Park since 1968. It represents a cool opportunity for every player involved, but serves as a very special opportunity for Hunter, whose father played 63 games and hit nine home runs at Fenway Park during his 19-year career.
“It’s going to be a cool experience, especially the fact that I’m not playing baseball there is going to be pretty weird,” Hunter told the media this week. “It’s going to be a pretty cool experience. I’ve seen the field, the setup looks pretty cool. I’m looking forward to it.”
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Hunter is also said to be measuring up the right field wall outside the Red Sox bullpen, which was the scene for perhaps the most infamous play of father Torii’s career. It happened Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS as Hunter raced back attempting to track a long fly ball hit by Ortiz. The ball ended up clearing the fence for a grand slam, and Hunter ended up flipping over for the wall resulting in an iconic image.
Could a possible touchdown celebration paying tribute to that moment be in the works?
“I said that, but I’m kind of nervous now,” Hunter said with a smile. “I don’t want to get flagged if I do it during a game. If it happened naturally, that would be epic. I’m sure they’ll make a big deal about it on Twitter and Instagram.”
It’s a fun though, that’s for sure. But Notre Dame obviously has more on their minds, like keeping their season on track and perhaps competing for a national championship. That can still happen if they win out, and in many ways it be fitting for Hunter if Saturday’s game at Fenway played a part in making that happen.
BLS H/N: SB Nation
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
