Father’s Day: A time to honor and celebrate all the hard work fathers do for their families.
But Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas used the day to share a revealing childhood story during a “Sunday Night Baseball” mic’d up interview with ESPN.
Casas took a trip down memory lane to his Little League days, when his father was arrested at one of his games.
Casas recalled being around six or seven years old at the time.
“I was so young, I don’t really know what’s going on at this point,” Casas said during the fourth inning of Boston’s eventual 9-3 win over the Yankees.
In one play, he got out, sending him back to the dugout in tears.
His father was not a fan of that kind of reaction.
“My dad, being the dad that he is, trying to teach me the lessons that he did in his own special way, came into the dugout, grabbed me by my shirt, dragged me to the line, and Looney Tunes style kicked me out onto the field,” Casas said.
“One of my best friends… his mom actually called child services on my dad and had him arrested at the field. I see my dad go away in the cop car, gets arrested and spends the night in jail.”
Casas called the moment his “favorite memory” of his dad and reflected on what he took away from that moment.
“That day my dad taught me a super-valuable lesson that not a lot people know,” Casas said. “That I had responsibility to my teammates, responsibility to the coaches that showed up that day, all the fans who showed up to the Little League game that day to go out there and give my best effort no matter how I was feeling on the bench or what I was going through that day… I still apply that to this day. Sometimes, I get to the bench and I want to weep and I want to cry but that’s not how baseball is.”
Casas learned that he owes it to his fans, coaches and teammates to always go out on the field and give his best regardless of his emotions.
Despite his dad’s ill-willed intentions that day, Casas still regards his father as someone he looks up to.
“I love my dad to death,” Casas said. “I wouldn’t have this opportunity without him.”
Casas has been out since April 20 after suffering torn cartilage in his ribs but is hoping to be back in the lineup by early July, according to Boston.com.
