The folks here in Central Mass. certainly know how to create a welcome mat for out-of-towners.
Take Kyle Hart, for instance.
The WooSox southpaw hails from Cincinnati. He is actually one in a long line of Red Sox major leaguers and minor leaguers from there. So Hart arrives in town, looking for a little bit of home, and what does he discover?
“They sell some (Cincinnati) beer up here,” he said. “I was at Wegman’s and they sell Rheingeist and MadTree, which are two of the biggest brewers in Cincinnati, and they sell my favorite ice cream up here, too, which is Graeter’s.”
The Midnight Snack sounds like an awfully good flavor, by the way.
Hart is one of several Boston draft picks on the WooSox. He was taken in the 19th round in 2016 and this is his sixth season in the organization, his second at Triple A. Hart managed to get into four games in Boston in 2020, making his major league debut.
With that, Hart unofficially became the 22nd Red Sox player from Cincinnati, or its immediate surroundings. That list goes all the way back to Nick Altrock in 1903. Hart was most recently preceeded by Andrew Benintendi, who went to Madeira High.
Hart is an alum of Sycamore High, the same school that sent Kevin Youkilis to Boston. The they are the only two Sycamore alums to come through the system. The leader is Western Hills with Clyde Vollmer, Russ Nixon, Tommy Helms and Tuffy Rhodes.
Tim Naehring, Jim Leyritz and Jeff Russell are other notable Cincinnatians to play in the Sox system. Oh, and let’s not forget Don Zimmer, who never played for the Sox at any level but did manage them for several memorable years.
Hart grew up as a Reds fan and loves following the NL Central. He has a pretty long list of favorite players, too, including one who will make him some friends among Sox fans.
“I really liked Bronson Arroyo,” Hart said, “and what he did there in kind of leading that staff, and he’s a really nice guy, a good leader, good in the community. And it’s hard not to like (Ken) Griffey. Hard not to like (Barry Larkin) and I really liked Scott Rolen when he was there, too. He’s a great guy and an awesome player. One of those guys who’s easy to root for.”
Arroyo would be the perfect role model for a Red Sox Triple A pitcher. He pitched the last nine-inning no-hitter in Boston’s Triple A history, a perfect game against Buffalo on Aug. 10, 2003.
Hart has been a Reds fan long enough to remember the predecessor to Great American Ballpark, the cookie-cutter Riverfront Stadium. However, he has mixed feelings about his hometown team’s new ballpark.
“I don’t love it,” he said, “especially going to the games as a pitcher. It’s a really offensive friendly park, kind of like this one.”
Which is not to say Hart doesn’t like Polar Park, what with it being not far from his favorite drinks and desserts.
“That’s OK,” he said of the ballpark’s friendly confines for hitters. “All of our guys have to deal with it and the other team has to deal with it and quite frankly, everyone who’s evaluating us — they know, they know that a 332-foot homer is not going to translate.”
Hart is 2-3 in seven appearances, six of them starts. He has three superb appearances including May 14 when he pitched six shutout innings against Syracuse; May 20 when he allowed only one run in seven innings versus Buffalo; and his last one, June 12 at Syracuse, when he went seven innings and allowed only two runs after Paul Schreiber worked an inning as an opener.
Then, there’s the game of June 6 here against Rochester when Hart was reached for four home runs and eight earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.
“I gave up quite a few home runs my last outing here,” he recalled, “and I think that only one of them was really hit well. It’s like — could you make better pitches? Absolutely — get ground balls and strikeouts. The other team knows what’s going on. They know that, at all costs, hit the ball in the air and you’re just trying to defend against that.”
Hart pitched at Indiana University where he missed a year due to Tommy John surgery. It would have been nice if he had been drafted by the Reds, but that really didn’t matter when he heard his name called.
“I was just happy to have an opportunity,” he said.
Just like a couple dozen other guys from his hometown.
Read full article here: https://www.telegram.com/story/sports/mlb/woosox/2021/06/16/worcester-red-sox-kyle-hart-cincinnati/7698656002/