With their Sunday night game against the Orioles ending at 10:40 p.m., and their matchup on Monday scheduled to begin at 11:09 a.m., a few Red Sox players decided it wasn't worth it to drive home and have to deal with all the Patriots' Day traffic and security.
So after their team's 6-5 win over the Orioles, Clay Buchholz, Mike Napoli and John Lackey had a sleepover at Fenway Park.
The men took advantage of a Sleep Room at Fenway Park, which was recommended to Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino by a sleep specialist and completed last season.
Normally players use the room, which is located above the team's clubhouse, to sneak in a nap. But Buchholz, Napoli and Lackey bunked up overnight after the first evening contest to precede the franchise's annual Marathon Monday morning game.
"Being here was easier," Napoli said, via the Boston Globe. "In the sleep room. I didn't want to deal with traffic. It’s convenient. It’s a dark room. It's got blankets."
Napoli didn't seem affected by the sleep room, going without error on the day and hitting his fourth home run of the season.
Buchholz, on the other hand, may not have gotten the most restful night of sleep. The 29-year-old starter gave up seven hits and six earned runs in the third inning before getting pulled.
Lackey didn't pitch on Monday, but the 6-foot-6, 240-pounder's contribution came in not crushing Napoli during the night.
"I took the bottom," Napoli said. “I had Lackey above me and that scared me a little bit — that he was going to fall through."
Buchholz, Napoli and Lackey aren't the first pros to sleep at their workplace. Delonte West admitted that, after returning to Dallas late from certain road trips, he would spend nights sleeping in the locker room of the American Airlines Center. West's situation was different, as he did not have a permanent home during parts of his stay in North Texas.
