Garrett Whitlock on Team USA and how ’embarrassing’ playoff performance fuels new routine

Garrett Whitlock on Team USA and how ’embarrassing’ playoff performance fuels new routine

FORT MYERS, Fla. — When Boston Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock reports to Team USA for next month’s World Baseball Classic, he’ll become teammates with one of the greatest pitchers of the century. Whitlock wonders if this future first-ballot Hall of Famer will remember him. It was late July 2025, and the Los Angeles Dodgers were in Boston for the weekend. Enjoying one of several Thursdays the Red Sox had off last season, Whitlock and his wife, Jordan, were downtown at Faneuil Hall for a special shopping trip. “Me and my wife, we had just found out we were having our second boy, and so we were at Build-A-Bear Workshop,” Whitlock told the Herald. “And I walked out of Build-A-Bear, and I was like, ‘Ah, I’ll be that guy.’ And so I walked up and I was like, ‘Hey Clayton, my name’s Garrett. I pitch for Boston, and I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself.’ “He was just like, ‘Oh, hey man. How are you?’ Super nice guy, but I was like, man, I feel bad. That guy has no clue who I am.” Though both men pitched two days later in the same game, they didn’t have any further interactions that weekend or otherwise. “I feel like that’ll be a funny conversation starter, like, ‘Hey man, do you remember that random guy that stopped you outside the Hall? That was me,’” Whitlock said with a laugh. Regardless of Kershaw’s answer, Whitlock is thrilled and honored to be…

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