It took until second base, when Green saw his teammates gathering at home plate, for the shortstop to fully understand what he had done.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t realize what was going on,’’ Green said. “I didn’t even comprehend the fact that I had swung at the first pitch and it was a walkoff. I just knew that we still had to hit. When I hit second base, everybody’s standing at home plate, then I realized what was going on.
“The last thing I really wanted to do was hit the ball in the air right there because the wind was so bad. I thought I hit it decent to right field, but I thought it was going to be an out because the wind was so bad. Fortunately it was blowing to the right. Blew it right where it needed to go.’’
Manager Terry Francona was equally confused - the home dugout is about the worst place in the park to see home runs in the right-field corner. He had spent the previous minutes wondering whether George Kottaras would be able to bunt Green to second base.
“Leaves Greenie’s bat, and then it gets out there and you can’t see it,’’ Francona said. “Just waiting for a reaction. I mean, I enjoyed it. Didn’t see it.’’
He didn’t need to worry. Green’s homer gave the Red Sox a 6-5 win on Father’s Day, a good way to end a homestand and head into an offday.
“It was kind of like old Candlestick [Park], where the fog rolls in and you’ve got mist in the air. Winds howling and blowing the ball all different directions,’’ J.D. Drew said. “An interesting day, to say the least. But in that last inning there where Greenie hits the home run, I think it may have actually helped. He hits the ball down the right-field line and it pushes it just enough where it hits the pole in the shortest part of the park and gives us the big win.’’
For a while, it looked iffy. Both teams had started off shaky in the first - with Tim Wakefield giving up two runs, and Jair Jurrjens giving up three - and the Sox held a two-run lead before Wakefield faltered again in the seventh.
