Just a little Tom Brady story, from a Red Sox perspective, that illustrates the quarterback's relentless competitiveness, even in the most benign settings.
On June 12, 2003, Brady took batting practice at Fenway Park with soon-to-be ex-teammate Lawyer Milloy.
Brady knew some Red Sox players from the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals, when he watched the Celtics' miracle comeback from 26 down against the Nets in a suite rented by Nomar Garciaparra that included a towel-waving Derek Lowe among about 20 other players.
Click here for complete Tom Brady coverage and download the MyTeams App for the latest news and analysis.
With manager Grady Little, hitting coach Ron Jackson, and a handful of players and media on hand before that night's game against the Cardinals, Brady stepped into the box.
A 1995 Expos draftee (18th round) who played catcher in high school, Brady described himself as a baseball rat who never left the cage. "I'm the guy who always said, 'Just one more swing,'" Brady said at the time.
It only took one swing to see that Brady knew his way around the box, with a dead-pull hack that conjures Jarrod Saltalamacchia today, and not just because both backstops stand 6-foot-4 and weigh about 230 pounds.
Brady wanted to put one in the seats, but just one problem: he hits left-handed, and it's a lot easier to launch one over the inviting left field porch if you're a right-handed pull hitter than it is to clear the fence to straightaway right more than 380 feet from home plate.
Standing off to the side and watching Brady's first few hacks, it seemed unlikely he'd reach the fence. He skied a couple to the big part of the park that fell harmlessly before launching an assault on the first base screen and short right field with line drive after line drive featuring launch angles of about two degrees.
Boston Red Sox
Find the latest Boston Red Sox news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
"One more," Brady kept saying, the happy-go-lucky atmosphere giving way to something more intense. It only took about a half dozen swings to realize that his best chance would be down the line, around the Pesky Pole. A poke to that part of the park still meant hitting the ball 310 feet, and at pretty much the exact moment onlookers started to wonder if Brady would have to leave the box without leaving the park, he got hold of one, depositing it just a row or two into the seats in the right field corner.
"He got it! He got it!" Jackson, better known as Papa Jack, shouted. Garciappara threw both arms over his head, and Brady tipped his cap.
"To get it out on the last swing, I kind of walked out with a real good taste in my mouth," Brady told reporters, as captured by NESN. (For the record, I was there that day, too).
Once he stepped in the box, he wasn't leaving until he accomplished his goal.
Knowing what we know about him now, after 20 years and six Super Bowls, it hardly qualifies as a surprise.
