Red Sox

Red Sox’ Kyle Schwarber dons Waltham Hawks shirt after epic grand slam

"I guess my hometown is Waltham now. So go Hawks."

By Khari Thompson

October 19, 2021

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Kyle Schwarber apparently fits in so well here that the Red Sox faithful are permanently claiming him as one of their own, and he seems to appreciate the love.

The slugging first baseman and outfielder, who launched a memorable grand slam against the Astros during Game 3 of the ALCS Monday night, attended his postgame press conference in a shirt shouting out the Hawks of Waltham Sr. High School.

The reason: “I guess [Waltham’s] where I’m from according to people from Boston,” he joked.

Schwarber, of course, is not actually from Waltham. He’s from Middletown, Ohio, as he noted in the press conference and has mentioned frequently before. “I guess Middletown, Ohio, is not a real place anymore,” he quipped Monday night.

But the Red Sox star is leaning into a running joke by Barstool Sports’ Red Sox-dedicated Section 10 Podcast, which has been calling Schwarber “Kyle from Waltham” after remarking that the former Chicago Cub and Midwest transplant looks like he belongs here.

The shirt, Schwarber explains, is a gift from the Barstool show.

“I think (Section 10 co-host Jared) Carrabis got it,” he said. “Sent it into the locker room. I think the first time I saw it was either him or MLB posted something, and everyone was asking me what’s ‘Kyle from Waltham?’ I’m, like, what? I’m like, I’m from Middletown, Ohio.”

The campaign has been a steady one from Carrabis, his co-hosts and Red Sox fans on social media, with Carrabis tweeting the following last week: “The key to the Red Sox winning the World Series this year is getting Kyle Schwarber to do a postgame presser in a Waltham T-shirt. If we can do that, I love our chances.”

Schwarber delivered on that promise, though, as his teammate Christian Arroyo notes, he’ll need to work on his pronunciation of the town he’s now representing.

“‘Walt-ham.’ They’re going to have a field day with that,” Arroyo joked.

But it’s the thought that counts. As long as Schwarber keeps hitting baseballs to the moon in a Red Sox uniform, the residents of Waltham will likely forgive him.

“I guess my hometown is Waltham now. So go Hawks,” he said.