On a cold, dark and damp Saturday in mid-March 2016, Rick DeAngelis drove past the Lexington High School baseball field, as he tries to do on all of his commutes home.
Through the gloom, he spotted a kid with what he called “quick hands and quick feet” hitting ground balls.
DeAngelis has lived in Lexington for 53 years and has coached the Lexington Blue Sox since he founded the team in 1995. That Saturday, he turned his car around and went back to watch the young player.
That kid was Sal Frelick. On Friday, he will play in his first World Series as an outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Frelick graduated from Lexington High School in 2018 after excelling in baseball, football and hockey.
In 2016, when Frelick was a high school sophomore, DeAngelis recruited him to the Blue Sox, a high-caliber summer baseball team that competes in the Intercity League.
It was during his first year on the Blue Sox that his teammate, Josue Feliciano, told him to give up football.
“You have major league hands,” said Feliciano, 46, of Boston.
Frelick laughed, but Feliciano did not. “I’m so serious,” he said.
Ross Curley, 37, of Lexington, another one of Frelick’s Blue Sox teammates, described the young Frelick as a sponge.
While the left-handed hitter may not have played all the time in his early days on the Blue Sox, Curley said Frelick was always the first person cheering on his teammates from the dugout, and the first person to congratulate them when they trotted off the field.
“I’ll never forget that first game,” Curley said of Frelick’s Blue Sox debut, when he homered.
Despite his inherent ability, Curley characterized Frelick as a bit of an underdog. Massachusetts winters span four to five months of the outdoor baseball season that players in warmer regions enjoy, making it difficult to specialize in spring sports.
“It’s remarkable that someone like Sal Frelick, who grew up in New England, is a major league batter,” said Andy Andres, a master lecturer at Boston University who teaches baseball data science.
Feliciano attributed Frelick’s success to his work ethic.
In the middle of the winter, Feliciano remembered he and DeAngelis drove past Lexington High. They saw that Frelick had shoveled out sections of snow to practice, just himself and a bucket of balls.
“I think Brewer baseball is Sal baseball,” Feliciano said. “Just do anything the team needs to win.”
Andres agreed.
“He is just the kind of player that the Brewers are attracted to,” he said.
The Brewers have discovered, Andres said, that players like Frelick are relatively inexpensive on the payroll yet provide incredible value to the team.
Andres said Frelick is a terrific contact hitter, a good defender and a speedy outfielder, traits that make him a key part of the Brewers, a team, he said, that is “really well suited to win this World Series.”
“You just gotta pinch yourself at times,” said Zack Friedman, head coach of the Lexington High School varsity baseball team for the last 12 years. “It’s not only cool because he’s there, but also the fact that he still is involved, when he can, in our community and in our baseball program.”
Even in the big leagues, Frelick has stayed the same humble and authentic person his coaches and teammates remember.
Fans gathered in Lexington’s Hastings Park to cheer for Frelick on Thursday night / Credit: Lauren Feeney
Throughout his time in Lexington, Frelick took part in the Best Buddies program and the unified basketball team, and he continues to donate his time in the off-season.
“As talented an athlete as he is, he’s an even better human being,” DeAngelis said. “Now that sounds trite, but it’s not.”
Last year, the Brewers nominated Frelick for the Roberto Clemente Award, an honor presented to the player who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.
“He’s the heart of every team he’s been on,” said Will Thomas, 27, who was Frelick’s teammate in baseball, football and hockey at LHS.
“I don’t think there’s a better person that could be representing Lexington,” said Thomas, who is still close with Frelick and belongs to a group of friends who have traveled widely to watch him play.
Feliciano told Frelick all those years ago he had “major league hands.” He added, “When you sign your first major league contract, I want your first glove.”
Sure enough, Frelick showed up to a Blue Sox dinner after his first game with the Brewers, presenting his first big league game-used glove to his friend.
Feliciano, never at a loss for words, was speechless and teary-eyed, DeAngelis said.
“And that’s who Sal Frelick is,” he said. “He’s a kid who keeps his promises.”