I have tried to find the words to write about this for a few days now. Napoli was, hands down, my favorite of the '13 bunch. He loved being in Boston which was endearing in and of itself. He hit some huge bombs for us. When he was hot he drove in runs in bunches. He played 1B better than I could have ever hoped. He started that year on fire and started us off on the right foot. He finished with multiple game changing hits. It was very easy to like him as a player.
I've had the fortune twice in the past two years to have some short time with him. In 2014 my family and I got to get into Fenway early on a gameday through some connections we had. Mike was so gracious. He spent time taking pics, talking baseball, and talking about how much he loved the city...my city...our city. He made it his, too. He loved Boston.
Just last month we had a huge surprise when our daughter, Mia Caroline, got picked to be the Red Sox bat girl for a game when we were in town. Mia is 9, loves the Sox as much as any of us do (yes, really), and was so overwhelmed by the whole experience. Out of all of the guys, Mike was the one who took a TON of time to talk to her, show her around the dugout, tell her where everything goes, etc. At one point Papi came over to say something to him and he introduced them. He was so unbelievably kind to her and really made her feel like she was part of it. Mia was already Sox for life...(I know, I'm a terrible dad for inflicting this on her!) but Nap made her feel like she mattered to him as much as he mattered to her.
I'm grateful to the man for bringing my team, my city, the championship. I'm even more grateful, however, for what he did for my little piece of Sox Nation on that day, in the middle of a bad season and a terrible personal slump. I will always be thankful to Mike Napoli.