Good news Red Sox fans you will not need to bid adieu to Mike Napoli or his beard before the 2015 season. Why? Because as December 6th came to a close, the Boston Red Sox announced that they had signed the bearded 1st basemen to a substantial 32 million dollar 2 year contract that will hand him a hefty average annual salary of 16 million dollars. By comparison that is 11 million more than the contract that brought him in for the 2013 season and yet as we awake this morning there is no question that Napoli deserves 16 million.
It seems like ages ago when we were questioning the capabilities of Napoli. It seems moronic that we were asking those questions. How well will he play 1st base? Will his hip hold up? Will we regret trading Adrian Gonzolez? By the midpoint of the 2013 season we were suddenly blessed with the answers to those questions. Yes, yes and no.
Napoli caught fire in Boston as even with 2 catastrophic slumps that punctuated his season, Mike Napoli and the man who hit one spot ahead of him in the lineup (David Ortiz) packed a one two punch better than any other. Through a combined 276 games played, Papi and Napoli rammed up 195 RBI's going 1 two on the team leaders list in that category. They combined to collect hits on 28% of the pitches thrown to them and on 53 different occasions hit the ball out of the yard.
All season long and even more so, Mike Napoli was the security package for the Boston DH and used that position in the lineup to drive both himself and as we know David Ortiz to greatness. But Ortiz is not the only thing that solicited Napoli's love for the city of Boston. He and his beard grew (pun intended) on any and all who even looked at this team and began one of the weirdest but unquestionably uniting traditions we have seen in a while. Furthermore, he never questioned his coach and or complained about anything to do with his play. For that reason he, even while struggling under a slump in which he compiled just 5 RBI's in 20 games, never had to endure the sound of any boo birds in Fenway.
“It’s a great fit for me,” Napoli said following the Series. “This is where I want to stay and I want to work something out. I love playing here, everything about it.”
It is a rare occasion when a player who strikes out as much as Napoli does channels so much love from his fans and yet in the days between the end of the season and now, the majority of Red Sox nation was literally scared that they might not be getting Mike back. Everyone loves him, recognizing not only his on the field defensive and offensive prowess but also his mood changing attitude that he carries with him at all times.
"Took ya long enough," Jon Lester said via Twitter last night but he was not the only person with a part in this situation to express his thoughts via Twitter.
For those who have not already seen, Mike Napoli himself personally came online to recognize his adopted city. "The beard is coming back to Boston!!! Couldn't be happier!!" He posted just after 9:00 PM Friday night.
Those tweets are good, the beards are good, and yet the biggest example of his love for Boston was the fact that Napoli left money on the table to stay with Boston as ESPN's Gordan Edes reported that either the Seattle Mariners or the Texas Rangers offered a payment larger than the 32 million dollar pay day dished out by the Red Sox.
When the Red Sox assembled their "dream team" in 2011, they were a collection of human beings the only reason for their presence being the huge sums of money Theo Epsteen paid for them. In 2013 the Red Sox were a team brought together by the love of their fans and the game they played. In 2011, the lack of camaraderie within this clubhouse caused one of the worst collapses in baseball history while in 2013, the beards the walk-offs and Mike Napoli won it all.
You tell me which method is more advantageous for a team’s success.
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