About a 100 lucky fans, myself included, got to go to the Chill out with Dunkin Donuts and Dustin Pedroia event at Fenway Park yesterday. And, to make it even a more special event…it wasn’t just Pedey there, but Terry Francona was also in attendance….on his birthday no less.
The day began with Dustin and Tito taking pictures with people in the crowd. I’d post my picture of me and the boys…but it’s a hard copy, so until I have access to my scanner…I just have to keep whipping it out and showing it to everyone I come across. I once again got to touch Dustin Pedroia and add in getting to shake Tito’s hand and wish him a happy birthday. Let’s just say…awesome.
And then there was cake. And it was one heck of a cake. Fans sang Happy Birthday to Tito as he blew out the candles. And just for reporting purposes, I had a slice of that cake…and mmmm…it was GOOD.
Fans also got a sneek peek of the new Dunkin Donuts commercials. There are 3 new ones. Two of them are your standard commercials…one with Pedey and one with Papelbon, being their bad ass selves. The third commerciial. It’s hilarious. When it hits the air waves…check it out. It’s with Pedey and Pap…and let’s just say Pedey continued to have a sense of humor about his *coughs* lack of height. It is adorable…and too too funny. Very well done.
Pedey and Tito spent a little time answering questions. At a fun, fan event…you’d think the first question might be a softball type of question….but…nope. First question was…Hey Tito, what are you doing about VMart not being able to make a decent throw to second? Tito laughed and said that the fans were getting right to it. Starting with the hard stuff…on his birthday no less. He also said that the team knows it is an issue and they are working on it. He then went on to say that they’d throw a guy out at second in last night’s game…but well…we know that didn’t happen.
A fan asked a question about the starting rotation and Dice-K. Tito said that he didn’t even know the plan yet. He also said he hasn’t informed the starting pitchers of the plan yet, so he didn’t think telling Dunkin’ Donuts first was a great idea. Of course, we know that Tito did know the plan and hours later it was announced that when Dice-K slides back in the rotation…Clay will stay put and Wake for the time being will be sent to the bullpen. However, I respect Tito not answering a question until he wants to answer it.
A fan asked what other parks does Dustin like to play in. I rememeber a fan asked this at the last DD event…and Pedey’s answer was the same. Anaheim. And once again…the reason…the rally monkey. That boy seems to *really* like the rally monkey.
A little kid asked Dustin how hard he worked when he was in little league. Dustin’s answer was really sweet. He told the kid that he just liked playing baseball…so he played as much as he could. He also said that he just had fun out there…and told the kid to just play and have fun.
Who’s the funniest in the clubhouse? Tito and Pedey were in agreement on this one…Pap, but he doesn’t mean to be. Tito remarked that he’s not that bright, but that often makes him hilarious. Then Tito went on to talk about how funny Millar was in the clubhouse back in the day. Ah, Millar….I miss him.
And with Tito and Pedey in a room…someone had to ask about those cribbage games. A fan asked if Pedey has ever beaten Tito in cribbage. Pedey quickly answered…YES! And then Tito said…”well, you know the saying….a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.” LOL.
A fan asked who Pedey and Tito’s favorite player was. For Tito…he said it was his dad. He said when he was a kid, he just wanted to be like his dad in every way. Aww. Sweet. For Pedey, he said he grew up a Giants fan, so it was Barry Bonds. He said he wanted to hit like Bonds. A fan interjected, “Did you want to hit like Bonds without the steriods?” Ouch. Burn. Pedey didn’t seem to happy with that comment and snipped back that Bonds wasn’t using steroids when he was a fan of his growing up.
Pedey talking about signing the long term deal with the Sox. He said that he loves playing here and would like to stay his whole career if he can, etc. He also said it is really nice at his age to be able to financially set his family up for life.
A fan asked what other sport Pedey would have liked to play if he didn’t play baseball. He said basketball…and got a good laugh from the crowd. You know…because in case you didn’t know…he’s short. And on that note, a kid asked how Pedey dealt with people telling him he was too short or too small to play baseball. Pedey just smiled and said he doesn’t really listen to what people say. Tito piped in…that he can attest to that. Pedey just said that he kept playing and his size didn’t matter to him.
And the most important question….was what is their favorite type of coffee. Pedey…iced mocha. He likes it to have lots of cream and sugar and be very sweet. Tito….he said anything sweet will work.
All in all…it was a very cool event. A morning spent with Dunkin’ Donuts, Dustin Pedroia, Terry Francona…and cake! Who could ask for more? Oh yeah..and throw in a tour of Fenway Park on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Awesome.
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