Red Sox Sign Pete Frates To Professional Baseball Contract
BOSTON (CBS) -- Opening Day at Fenway Park is always a special day around Boston.
But Monday's Opening Day may take the cake. Towards the end of the ceremonies, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington presented Pete Frates with a professional baseball contract.
Frates, a former Boston College baseball player, is battling ALS and was the inspiration behind the Ice Bucket Challenge, which helped raise over $100 million for the ALS over the summer. He received a standing ovation from the Fenway faithful when he was announced prior to the game.
After receiving the contract from Cherington, the entire Red Sox team then came out to congratulate him on the field. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who threw out the first pitch, also spent time with Frates and his wife on the field prior to the game.
The Red Sox honored Frates earlier this spring when they played Boston College down in Fort Myers, Florida, with both teams donning his No. 3 and "Frates" on the back of their jerseys. Each player from the Red Sox gave their jerseys, signed, to Frates on Monday.
