Don't get him wrong. When Foulke faced the Yankees over the weekend in the Bronx, he competed as if it were Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. It's just that he didn't even bother watching last year's ALCS, one of the most riveting playoffs in sports history.
"I wouldn't consider myself a baseball fan," said Foulke, who stands to make about $26 million over the next four years finishing games for the Sox. "When I'm away from the game, I'm literally away from it. I don't think about it. I don't watch it. I don't like watching the sports shows. What I love is pitching and the friendship of a team itself."
He's the linchpin of the hottest bullpen in baseball (Sox relievers are riding a streak of 24 2/3 scoreless innings, five of which Foulke has pitched). And as the reigning Rolaids Relief Man champion, Foulke ranks just a point behind the early leader, Minnesota's Joe Nathan, in defending his title. But while many of his teammates may spend their free time watching or talking baseball, Foulke would just as soon pull on a crash helmet and slip behind the wheel of a tire-squealing, high-performance go-kart, an adrenaline-pumping passion he has pursued at tracks across the country.
Foulkie, start your engine.
"I love go-karting," said Foulke, who is already familiar with F1 Boston in Braintree, one of the nation's top go-kart facilities. "I'll spend a lot of time there through the summer."
Better the track than the highway. Foulke's collection of cars includes a Porsche 911 twin-turbo that easily could top 125 miles an hour. But he said he has no recollection of telling anyone he has driven a car "in the mid-150s," as he was quoted as saying last year in The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa, Calif., while he pitched for the A's.
No matter. The thing is, Foulke has moderated his driving habits on the open road for a couple of reasons. First, he has channeled much of his driving energy into go-karting and motorcycling on tracks. Plus, he and his wife, Mandy, had their first child last year.
