Two Old Faces Make Their Fenway Return

Two familiar faces, wearing unfamiliar uniforms, made their return to Fenway Park Saturday in the “Futures at Fenway” two-game event featuring the Boston and Baltimore organizations.

Gary Allenson, a former major league catcher, third base coach and minor league manager in the Red Sox organization, managed the Norfolk Tides against Pawtucket while pitcher David Pauley, traded away this January, also returned with the Tides but did not pitch in the game.

While Allenson returns to Boston to face his former club, his career in baseball has always been intertwined with the Boston organization.

Taken in the ninth round of the 1976 amateur draft, Allenson would work his way up to Triple-A with Pawtucket where he was the 1978 International League MVP.

At the major league level Allenson appeared in more than 400 games with the Boston Red Sox from 1979 through 1984 as a catcher. He moved on to play for Toronto in 1985 and then in various other baseball leagues until taking a managerial position in 1991 with the New Britain Red Sox, then the team’s Double-A affiliate.

From 1992 through 1994 he was a third base coach with the Red Sox. While most Boston fans may not have fond memories of three Boston clubs that finished as seventh, fifth, and fourth in the AL East, Allenson still looks back with appreciation of his time in Boston.

“It’s always nice to be back in ‘Bah-ston’” Allenson says with a chuckle. “I enjoyed my time here but I think, more than anything, I enjoy and love baseball. But for me, playing here and looking back on it, there’s no better place to play when you’re going good.

“I have a lot of friends up here still, too…I saw [Johnny] Pesky out in Portland at the Triple-A All-Star game and stuff so obviously I have some fond memories here.”

Since moving on from Boston after the strike-shortened 1994 season, he hasn’t had a chance to return to Fenway Park. As Allenson tells it, quite a bit has changed in 15 years.

Many memorable October nights, two World Series banners, and a host of modern changes to one of the oldest ballparks left in the majors, for starters.

“[Fenway Park] kind of seems like a ride at Disney World now or something, you know?” he commented before the game. “It’s different. They spruced it up, but it seems like the commercial world [caught up to Fenway].”

Allenson’s career has seen him journey all across the country in the name of baseball, and he says the changes to the game, especially for the players, have been dramatic.

The media, especially, has become tougher for players to ignore as it has gotten more and more prolific in his opinion, making it harder for guys to just focus on playing.

“Back when I played there was one talk show and a newspaper and now there’s all kinds of avenues to hear this and that [about yourself], but that’s too many distractions.

“Sometime with young guys when you do get [to Triple-A and the major league] you just put too much pressure on yourself instead of just going out and playing the game and having fun. But when I played here I probably listened to the talk shows too much,” Allenson said.

“You’d hear guys [on the radio] like ‘you know he’s not doing too good we got to get us a veterin’ catchah’. I had [the radio] on today and they were raking a couple guys over the coals, but you can’t listen to that stuff, man. You’ve got to just tune it out.”

While it’s been 15 years before Allenson could return to Fenway professionally, Tides pitcher David Pauley didn’t have to wait nearly that long.

Designated for assignment in January when the Boston Red Sox acquired John Smoltz, Pauley was ultimately dealt to Baltimore.

A little more than six months later, Pauley has returned to Fenway, and it’s hardly unfamiliar territory for him.

Pauley had several stints with the major league club in Boston during his young career, pitching 16 innings early in 2006 before being called up twice again in 2008 in April and September for a further 12.1 innings.

So far with Norfolk he’s “had his ups and downs,” according to his manager, but even when struggling he’s managed to stay composed and keep his team in the game.

“He’s got to trust his stuff a little bit more, throw all four of his pitches for strikes,” Allenson said of Pauley before the game against Pawtucket. “He has a tendency to get out of his rhythm a little bit…but that’s part of big-league life; dealing with adversity, not riding that rollercoaster.”

After 15 years and hundreds of games, what does the ride hold for Allenson though? According to him, all that matters is he’s having fun.

“It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you enjoy doing it. Whether you’re getting paid a million dollars a year or $50,000…you have to enjoy what you’re doing and I have fun doing what I’m doing here, teaching the game a little bit, and I’m going to take it from there.”