Aaron Buckley made the catch of his life Thursday night.
Seated in the front row of the Monster seats at Fenway Park, Buckley, the bat boy for the Worcester Red Sox noticed a ball coming his way during the eighth inning of the Red Sox’ win over the Cincinnati Reds.
So Buckley jumped up in an attempt to corral the home-run ball with his baseball mitt.
“The catch made,” NESN broadcaster Dave O’Brien said. “It is a great night to be in the Monster seats.”
It sure was.
Following the highlight-worthy grab, Buckley and his younger brother, Bryton, shared a bear-hug as the two celebrated the catch heard (and seen) all around the commonwealth.
“That’s going to be a moment we never forget for the rest of our lives,” Buckley, 18, said. “So I’m just happy I was able to share that moment with him.”
“It was just amazing. I didn’t think anything like that would happen,” Bryton, 14, said. “We were making jokes about catching the ball the whole night and it was just crazy that it came to reality.”
Buckley family big Red Sox fans
Aaron Buckley has been a Red Sox fan for as long as he can remember.
The recent Blackstone Valley Tech graduate got his love for baseball from his father, Joe, who grew up in Brighton and went to every single Red Sox spring training from 1984 until Buckley was born in 2004.
“I don’t go to spring training anymore,” Joe said with a laugh.
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In 2003, Joe camped overnight outside of Fenway Park for the first-ever sale of Green Monster tickets. On Thursday, Joe was seated in the family room of his Hopedale home when he saw his oldest son catch Connor Wong’s home run atop the Monster.
“I almost fell right out of my chair,” Joe said. “I had to replay it hundreds of times. My phone has been blowing up.”
Right before Buckley’s catch, Bryton had a premonition. So he shared the hunch with his older brother.
“He says ‘I feel a home run here, get ready,'” Buckley said.
The next pitch, the Sox catcher rocketed a ball that looked to be going a row above where Buckley and his brother sat. At least until Buckley gave it a stab.
“I kind of jumped up, threw my glove up there and it landed in the right spot,” Buckley said.
WooSox bat boy an ‘overnight sensation’
Following the catch, the Worcester Red Sox shared a message on Twitter about their bat boy snagging a souvenir while some of Buckley’s favorite baseball pundits in Steve Perrault and Jared Carrabis reached out to the 18-year-old to offer their compliments.
“He’s become an overnight sensation,” said Mario Oliveira, the WooSox clubhouse manager.
This morning, Buckley flipped on the TV to watch SportsCenter and caught a replay of his catch on ESPN.
“That’s a childhood dream right there so it was cool to watch that,” he said. “It’s been one of the coolest moments of my life, honestly, so I don’t know how I’ll be able to top that.”
Earlier this year, Buckley applied to be a clubhouse attendant with the WooSox. When he heard back from Oliveira, the idea of being a bat boy came to fruition.
“Luckily I ended up with the job,” said Buckley, who plans to study sports broadcasting at Dean College in Franklin.
During every game at Polar Park this season, Buckley helps out with equipment, setting up dugouts and bullpens, and even catches ceremonial first pitches. He’s good with a glove, after all.
“It’s a dream-come-true type of job for me,” Buckley said.
The same sentiment can be said about Thursday’s moment at Fenway Park. Aaron Buckley won’t soon forget the catch he made atop the Green Monster.
“How crazy can baseball be that the WooSox bat boy ended up with a Red Sox home run?” Buckley said. “Baseball has all of these crazy moments, but this was one of them.”
— Contact Tommy Cassell at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: WooSox bat boy Aaron Buckley makes highlight-worthy catch at Fenway