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Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.

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Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2008 > June > 13 > Entry

BLOG: Creek’s Masterson — King of the Red Sox Clubhouse

By Tom Archdeacon | Friday, June 13, 2008, 07:49 AM

Mark and Judy Masterson are glad their son is making his own history rather than having it written for him.

Their 23-year-old boy, Justin — a Beavercreek High grad and the Boston Red Sox rookie pitcher who’ll start tonight against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park — comes into the game with a 3-0 record and a 2.59 earned run average in his four major-league appearances.

“I just hope he pitches well,” said Mark, the pastor of the Creekside Community Church in Beavercreek.

Anything else he’d like to see?

“Well, it’d be fun if he struck out Ken Griffey Jr.,” Mark said with smile.

This wasn’t meant as a jab at Griffey. The Mastersons, humble and low key, just aren’t like that. In fact, this wish was quite the opposite of a Griffey put-down. Mark knows what a great hitter Griffey is, and striking him out would show some of his son’s potential as well.

“At least Ken Griffey Jr., won’t be making his history against Justin,” Judy said.

Mark nodded: “I was so happy that Griffey got his 600th before (today). And besides, Justin’s in the record books for other things. He’s the first pitcher in the history of Fenway Park to be undefeated in his first four appearances.

“Since 1912,” Judy added.

And yet for the other Red Sox players, it’s the way Masterson has made his history — as much as the history itself — that impresses them.

Everybody seems to like the 6-foot-6, 250-pound right-hander who was called up from Double-A Portland on April 23 for a spot start in the Red Sox injury-depleted rotation. Since then he has bounced back down to Portland, come back up, gone down to Triple-A Pawtucket and then come up again.

When he made his big-league debut April 24, catcher Jason Varitek gave his behind-the-plate seats at Fenway — four rows up — to Mark and Judy and their two other children, Mandy and Jonathan, so they could watch the glorious moment.

And not surprising to anybody, Sean Casey has taken Justin under his wing.

“Sean’s a great guy,” Judy said. “He text messages Justin a lot. They talk back and forth all the time. They’ve got similar dispositions. People like them and some of the other guys joke that it’s a competition between the two on who’s going to be the king of the clubhouse for niceness.”

The Red Sox are just now learning what most people who have crossed Justin’s path in previous years already have. That’s why tonight some 34 family members will be on hand at GABP, as well as over 100 people who are coming down from Bethel College, the northern Indiana NAIA school Justin attended for a year after high school. And there will be scores of people there from Beavercreek, as well.

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