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WESTFIELD –One of the highlights of the summer turned into an award-winning moment as the Futures Collegiate Baseball League announced its 2025 Team and Staff Award winners on Wednesday.
The Westfield Starfires were honored with the Best In-Game Promotion Award for their one-day contract with Jonathan Papelbon and his taking the mound for the Starfires in actual game action.
It was a day that was special enough for Starfires fans, who had a chance to have a meet-and-greet with the six-time All-Star and all-time saves leader for both the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies before the contest.
Papelbon then took the mound for the ceremonial first pitch. And a few particularly attentive fans might have noticed that, rather than his signature entrance song, “Shipping Up To Boston,” it was the Standells classic “Dirty Water,” the victory song of Boston teams, that played as he walked out to toe the rubber.
He delivered the pitch to cheers, and then fans were treated to another Boston great as Todd Angilly, the longtime Boston Bruins vocalist, sang the Star-Spangled Banner.
But then, the familiar notes of the Dropkick Murphys came onto the sound system, the 2007 World Series Champion walked back to the mound, and the crowd roared as they heard over the microphone, “from Mississippi State University…”
Papelbon threw seven pitches to two batters, and the Starfires ended up winning his start, 4-3.
The showing will not only stand in Starfires lore, but in the history of the game; on Papelbon’s Baseball Reference page, a line now exists noting him as a member of the Westfield Starfires, with one appearance and two batters faced, nine years after he last took a Major League mound.
It is the second year in a row that the Starfires have won a league award for a promotional event; the team was lauded for its Boston Celtics Night in 2024, which also featured Boston sports legends Cedric Maxwell and Brian Scalabrine.
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