Baseball enthusiasts in New Hampshire are getting wind of a possible newcomer from Tallahassee expressing interest in joining their ranks.
The Governor of Florida is informing Republicans in the Granite State that his son might be becoming a fan of their beloved baseball team.
The evidence seems to stem from Mason’s organization of baseball cards. Recounting a visit to the Green Monster, Ron DeSantis mentioned that Mason spontaneously started segregating cards by teams.
“Without any prompting from me or any prior discussions, when he reached the Red Sox players, he was placing them in a special stack. I believe it’s because Fenway Park made a lasting impression on him. So, you might just have a new member of Red Sox Nation all the way down in Tallahassee, Florida,” DeSantis stated on Wednesday.
The Governor shared these remarks during a town hall in Hampton, New Hampshire, hosted by the Never Back Down super PAC. While DeSantis had previously shared a version of this story, this time he hinted at the possibility of Mason becoming a fan of the team.
To connect with voters in New Hampshire, the Governor has highlighted his past as an ardent Red Sox fan during his time in the Ivy League, recalling that for “all seven years (he) was up here, (he) was rooting for the Red Sox over the Yankees.”
During a visit to Nashua in August, the governor expressed his enthusiasm for the Red Sox and reminisced about their triumphant 2004 World Series victory. He remarked, “It was such an exciting time. The only disappointment was when they swept St. Louis, so they didn’t win the World Series back in Boston,” as reported by the New Hampshire Journal.
While the Governor grew up as a Braves fan and lived in Tampa Bay during his youth, this year he has emphasized his fondness for the Rays’ American League East rival. In an interview on Boston’s WBZ, the Florida Governor described a level of devotion to the Red Sox that surpasses typical support seen in the Sunshine State.
“I was a Braves fan growing up in the Southeast. When the Rays came along, I was in college, so I started getting into them. But by the time I was in law school, I was fully a part of Red Sox Nation, cheering for them more. When they were down three to nothing in 2004, I wondered if they would ever make a comeback,” DeSantis explained. “However, when they rallied to beat the Yankees with four consecutive wins, I knew the curse was lifted. I was confident they would defeat the Cardinals. The enthusiasm in that part of the country, not just in Boston but also in Cambridge and other parts of New England, was incredible. The entire population was deeply invested in it,” added DeSantis, who was attending Harvard Law School at the time.
He remarked that the excitement during that period was unlike anything he had witnessed in Florida. “I’ve seen the Bucs win a couple of Super Bowls, and we’ve had other successful teams, along with fervent support for college football. However, this was ingrained in the culture of New England. I’ve never seen so many people so energized, and when they won, it was a monumental event.”
