Story on Jason Larocque, Sox Bullpen Catcher

Jason Larocque's hometown newspaper has a nice story on his new job as Sox bullpen catcher. Larocque comes off very humble and hard-working in the piece, plugging away in a job that sounds glorious but actually comes with a lot of work and few frills. Well, maybe one:

At the season opener in Yankee Stadium, he had the thrill of a lifetime when legendary Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard intoned, "And in the bullpen, Jason Larocque."

Some other highlights, on how Larocque got the gig:

The Methuen native, who played baseball for Central Catholic High School and Harvard, had an interesting winter, to say the least. He interviewed for the head coaching job at Methuen High School, hoping to follow in the footsteps of mentors Bill Blood, his stepfather, and Dave Bettencourt, a family friend, both veteran baseball coaches.

But Larocque was bypassed for a more experienced candidate.

The disappointment didn't linger. Within a week, Larocque received a call from the Red Sox inviting him to a tryout. He was recommended by Raquel Ferreira, the director of minor league administration who oversaw Larocque as an intern charting pitches for the scouting department in 2001.

Larocque flew to Florida in early February for his "interview," which consisted mainly of speaking to manager Terry Francona for 10 minutes, throwing batting practice to spring training's early arrivals, and keeping his head down like a good worker bee.

Peter Woodfork, a Swampscott native and a three-year teammate of Larocque at Harvard, works in the front office as one of General Manager Theo Epstein's most trusted aides. But Larocque didn't try to tap the Crimson connection to win the job.

"He didn't call me and I didn't call him," Larocque said. "We both wanted to let it play out. I wanted to get it on my own, and he wanted me to get it on my own. And that's what happened."

The full story is here.