BROCKTON, Mass. -- Brockton Rox pitcher Michael Quigley was warming up for his second Futures League start of the summer when he recognized a voice from the distance.
“I was out stretching and David Ortiz just pulled up near the bullpen behind left field and said, ‘Go get ‘em boys,’ ” recalled Quigley (Halifax, Mass.), who was a UMass Lowell sophomore in 2022. “We were all starstruck. It’s so cool. … When Big Papi tells you to go get ‘em, you go get ‘em.”
Brockton’s “City of Champions” nickname has taken on a whole new meaning this summer, as five former major leaguers have appeared at Campanelli Stadium to watch their sons play for the Rox.
Ortiz, fellow first-ballot Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Keith Foulke and Gary Sheffield have a laundry list of career accolades, combining for eight World Series titles and 40 All-Star appearances. Ortiz, Ramirez and Sheffield totaled a whopping 21 Silver Sluggers, while Martinez’s three Cy Young Awards add to the group’s collective trophy case.
