Yes, Jerry Remy did ask me to be Vice President of Red Sox Nation (last Friday, prior to game 2 vs. Anaheim), and yes, I did accept his offer, and yes, it’s really exciting. I’m not really sure yet what it means to be Vice President of Red Sox Nation, but I assume it means I should just keep being myself, and I’m determined to make it mean increased opportunities for me to make a positive impact in people’s lives.
But rather than write about this accomplishment — which really means nothing until Jerry and I DO something to validate our titles — I thought I’d celebrate my incredibly good fortune with a fantastic story from Red Sox Nation. I heard a lot of them during my two-month campaign, but this one tops ’em all. It’s from a boy named Chris Stimpson, and it’s right out of a Disney movie that’s too good to believe.
Chris was at Fenway on August 13, 2007, and because his little brother, Sam, had caught a foul ball on June 12th, Chris really hoped he would catch one on this night. And against all odds, he believed he would. Well, he didn’t end up catching a foul ball, but one of his grandfather’s friends DID catch a foul ball off the bat of Jason Varitek, and he gave it to Sam. “I was so excited, I took the ball and jumped up in the air!” Chris told me. His wish had come true. But that’s not the end of the story.
On the drive home from the game, Chris’s dad got stuck in traffic. I’ll let Chris tell the rest of the story: “That’s when I saw Jason Varitek stuck in traffic too! Right next to us! We stopped the car and I got out and went into the street. None of the cars were moving so I walked over to Varitek’s car and tapped on the window. To my surprise, he rolled it down and said, What’s up? I told him about the foul ball he hit to my grandfather’s friend and I showed it to him and he said, Let me see that. Then he took out a pen, signed the ball, and handed it back to me. It was so cool. I ran back to my car yelling Thank you! back towards Varitek’s car. When I jumped in my car, I yelled, HE SIGNED IT! HE SIGNED IT!”
I certainly hope that in my capacity as Vice President of Red Sox Nation, I’ll hear a lot more wonderful stories like that one!
Crawdaddy Cove 
Hey Crawdaddy,
Members of the Murphy family and extended friends of the Crawdad nation are extremely pleased with your elevation to the role of VP this week! If President Remy is anything like the fella in the White House then you will be a very busy man shaping policy in the Red Sox Nation!
We are very proud of you!
This story about Jason Veritek does not surprise me at all! He is a blue collar guy and strikes me as a guy I would love to shoot the breeze with any old day and the fact that he signed that ball in a heartbeat speaks to his willingness to remember how someone did something nice for him as a kid!
Congrats again from all the Murphy family!
Murphdawg