As it seemed as if Craig Breslow and the Boston Red Sox refused to promote Roman Anthony, Boston fans should've been prepared to take things into their own hands. After all, there aren't many opportunities out there for diehards to directly influence a lineup — but there certainly was one of them.
Red Sox fans who thought they were out of opportunities to publicly shame Craig Breslow after the winter's Fenway Fest, fear not! All they had to do was tell one friend to tell one friend. After you and a few friends have spoken, you'll have already demonstrated better communication skills than Breslow attempting to reason with Rafael Devers over a position change.
Anthony is, according to both experts and the eye test, the best prospect in all of baseball. There's nothing left for him to work on, other than "Solving MLB's Service Time Rules". Surely, if there was anything else that Boston's brass wanted to see from him, his 500-foot grand slam over the weekend checked off any remaining boxes.
The Red Sox are now returning to Fenway for a six-gamer after a successful series at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will be there over the weekend, too, ready to be demolished and embarrassed. Anthony needs to be there. And he will be, after Monday's much-deserved news drop.
But, in the case that the Sox were still hemming and hawing, fans could've taken action to show the front office exactly how they felt. Anthony looked like a tailor-made MLB All-Star down at Triple-A Worcester. So why not make him one?
With the first round of All-Star voting officially open, Red Sox fans have a chance to unite and coordinate a write-in campaign for Anthony to start in an outfield position. Imagine the Sox delaying the inevitable so long that Anthony's MLB debut just so happens to be in the All-Star Game, an honor he might've earned if Boston had found room for him on the Opening Day roster? Instead, he'll be in Monday's lineup, while Wilyer Abreu will hit the IL.
But send him to the ASG anyway! Send a message that Boston waited too long!
Red Sox fans need to write in Roman Anthony for MLB All-Star Game voting consideration
It sounds impossible, but if any fanbase knows about momentum, it's Boston. Just get the ball rolling downhill, and suddenly a 3-0 series deficit doesn't sound so daunting. At the very least, the more noise you make, and the higher the percentage grows, the likelier it becomes that Breslow and Co. will have to acknowledge it/invent a few more things Anthony can't do well to justify their malfeasance.
"He's got to work on his in-zone swing percentage on 1-1 counts. And he's kind of an iffy juggler." Sure, Craig.
Plus, even if the effort fails, you'll be taking away an outfield All-Star vote from Aaron Judge with every ballot you submit. Kind of a win-win, even if it never gets to Breslow's desk. The time is now.
Of course, his MLB debut will now occur during a normal old regular-season game (lame!), with Roman Anthony being called up on Monday. The Red Sox should be thankful for that, though. The fans could've made this all kinds of awkward.