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IL Worcester Red Sox

Jamie Westbrook: Homecoming to Call-Up

June 4, 2024 - International League (IL)
Worcester Red Sox News Release


Before the start of the 2024 baseball season, Jamie Westbrook wanted everyone to know where he was born.

When he was 10 years old, Westbrook and his family moved to Chandler, Arizona where he attended Basha High School. In 2013, he was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of Basha, deepening the roots already planted in the desert of Arizona. If you asked Westbrook, it's where he planned on enjoying a long career in the big leagues.

But, as time would tell, his career did not pan out the way he had envisioned. Rather, it took coming home--not Arizona, but Holyoke, Massachusetts--for him to see his dream come true.

"I'm proud to be from Holyoke," Westbrook said earlier in the season. "It's a tough city, but good hardworking people come from there."

Hardworking is one way to describe Westbrook. An infielder by trade, Westbrook stands 5'9" and is 193 pounds. He is 28 years old and has spent his entire 11-year playing career in the minor leagues--amassing 1,159 games.

Westbrook has played for five different organizations--the Diamondbacks, Brewers, Tigers, Yankees, and Red Sox. When there was no minor league season in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, he played for the Sugar Land Lightning Sloths of the Independent League.

Nothing was ever given to him. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2013 MLB Draft, but 11 years without seeing an MLB pitch could convince anyone that it's time to hang up the cleats. Westbrook nearly did--on multiple occasions. Then, the Boston Red Sox called and offered him a minor league contract this past offseason.

Joining the Red Sox organization was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Playing for Triple-A Worcester, Westbrook would only be 50 miles from where he grew up--close enough for family still residing in Holyoke to come to games.

However, Westbrook's proximity to home was not the only reason the Red Sox made sense for him. His favorite player growing up was Dustin Pedroia. Both were small statured infielders who had a knack for barreling up the baseball. In fact, "Barrel Man" is Westbrook's nickname.

It was a full-circle moment for the 28-year-old. It felt right--almost storybook. In this story, though, another chapter still needed to be written.

He got the call in the evening on June 1. It was a conversation 11 years in the making, and one WooSox manager Chad Tracy was honored to have with his utility man. On Sunday morning, before the Tigers and Red Sox played in their series finale at Fenway Park, Westbrook recounted the phone call:

"He called me and said, 'Hey, I'm sure there's been a lot of managers throughout your career that wanted to give this call, but I'm happy it's me and you're going to the big leagues.'"

It wasn't the first time that Tracy had a conversation of this magnitude. Earlier this year, Cam Booser received his first call-up to the big leagues. The left-handed reliever's story is remarkable--retiring from baseball in 2017 due to an extensive injury history, only to return to the mound in 2022 after discovering he could still throw in the upper 90s.

Now 32 years old, Booser is the oldest Red Sox rookie since Tommy Fine in 1947.

In 2023, when Booser was in his first season with Worcester, he told WooSox play-by-play broadcaster Tyler Murray, "Ever since I was a kid, Fenway always called me. It was the coolest park to me...The dream is to get to the big leagues. But a little more selfishly, the dream is to pitch at Fenway in a Red Sox uniform."

While Booser has always had a connection to Fenway Park, he is not from Massachusetts. Rather, the southpaw grew up in Seattle, Washington.

In Westbrook's case, the Red Sox are his hometown team. An organization that took 11 years for him to get to, and the one that made his dream come true.

"I'm still kind of at a loss for words, but definitely have a lot of gratitude," the utility man said. "I'm obviously really happy to be here and it's a special day, but here to help the team win and whatever they need me to do."

On Sunday, the Red Sox needed him to pinch-hit for Wilyer Abreu with men on first and second in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tied ballgame. He took a first-pitch 92 mph fastball for strike one, then watched four balls go by for a walk to load the bases.

Though the Red Sox went on to lose 8-4 in extras, Westbrook will forever be in an MLB box score.

For his entire life, he dreamed of becoming a big leaguer. Westbrook moved to Arizona when he was 10, was drafted by his home state's team, and spent 11 years in the minor leagues without tasting big league action.

Then, life brought him back to Massachusetts to make his MLB debut.

The connection between an individual and their roots is embedded in all of us. It's a warmth that resonates in the fibers of your being and brings serenity to the soul. The word "home" can only be defined by the individual. It doesn't have to be a concrete place, but can be the people that eloquently mold you into the person you are.

Westbrook's story feels like a divine ordinance that was thoughtfully and carefully planned before he even began his career. Whether it was on purpose or not, it's a heartwarming narrative of the detours that brought him back to where he belonged.

"Everybody's story is different," Westbrook said. "But it's so much sweeter now, and I wouldn't want it any other way. So yeah, it's been a long time coming for sure, but it's just a beautiful day."

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