It’s time to batter up. Two of our very own are in the World Series. Chris Sale, starting pitcher + Steve Pearce, first baseman, are Lakeland natives on the Red Sox team.

Sale and Pearce are key players with the Red Sox in the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tuesday night belonged to Boston fans as the Red Sox took the opener game at Fenway Park, 8-4.

Steve Pearce graduated in 2001 from Lakeland High School, where he was a three-year letterman in baseball. Growing up, Pearce was a fan of the Boston Red Sox. Pearce is only the second player in MLB history to have played for every team in the American League East.

Born in LAL, Sale graduated from Lakeland Senior High School, where he played basketball + baseball. The Lakeland-All Star Ace Lefty is remembered by his former head baseball coach at Lakeland Senior High School as “a tall, lanky, skinny kid.”

This marks just the third World Series in which both starting pitchers in the first two games are lefties since 1973.

Though not officially on the roster for the games, Brian Johnson is also a part of the team. Born in Lakeland, Johnson moved to Cocoa Beach as a child. Johnson’s mother still lives in Lakeland.

It’s been over a century since the Red Sox and LA Dodgers competed in the World Series. And while we try to remain unbiased here at LAL, we’ve got a feeling that double dose of Lakeland mojo is sure to spur the Red Sox on to a ninth World Championship.

You can take the boys out of Lakeland, but you can’t take the Lakeland out of the boys.

Even still, some of us (at least Boston-raised, Kristin) love that Dirty Water.

To all the Boston Red Sox fans, let’s continue to cheer on. And for those of us wanting to jump on that train and become fans, now is the time. After all, we have a connection. A Lakeland connection.

Go Red Sox!

- The LALtoday team