Xander Bogaerts said interim manager Ron Roenicke was a huge influence both personally and in his baseball career.
The Red Sox fired Roenicke on Sunday, but the team’s star shortstop made it clear that Roenicke’s short stint as manager was a meaningful one.
“It was tough,” Bogaerts said on NESN. “Coming to the ballpark, no one expected that or anything like that. That’s the way stuff goes in life sometimes. It’s unexpected.”
Bogaerts said he knows Roenicke – who was the team’s bench coach before he became interim manager – has meant a lot to other players as well, especially with the success the Red Sox have had the past few years.