Last fall, Jeff Corsaletti sampled the Fenway Park experience he'd always dreamed of: patrolling the expanse of green in front of the famed Green Monster, taking in the deafening noise of the 30,000-plus crowd, enjoying the thrill of a comeback win.
No, the former UF outfielder and current Boston Red Sox prospect wasn't called up for a cup of coffee at the major-league level. The game was part of a minor-league twin bill that saw Corsaletti's Double-A Portland Sea Dogs take on the Harrisburg Senators.
But the memory sticks with him.
"Being able to get a taste of that, playing in Fenway Park with all of those fans, it was something else," Corsaletti said in a phone interview. "It's my goal to be able to experience that every day."
Though he was named to the Eastern League All-Star team last season, that goal didn't seem likely unless the 25-year-old outfielder made some changes.
He faded a bit after the midseason mark, ending the year batting .266 with six home runs and started this season repeating Double-A.
All the while, murmuring in the background were the scouting reports that projected the former Gator as nothing more than a backup outfielder in the major leagues.
"My whole career, people have constantly been telling me what I can and can't do," he said, "and I've constantly proved them wrong."
That includes his time at UF. When Corsaletti came in as a freshman on nothing but a scholarship that would pay his books, people told him he was never going to play every day.
But that year, he had more playing time than anyone in his class and would become a starter his sophomore year. He never looked back.
In 2005, Corsaletti was the emotional leader and offensive sparkplug of the team that made it to the championship series of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., batting .358 with 10 home runs and 53 RBIs in the leadoff spot.
It's safe to say he proved the naysayers wrong about his college career, and now he looks to do the same in his professional future.
"It's things like that that constantly motivate me and constantly keep me going and constantly keep me working hard," Corsaletti said.
He's worked hard in one specific area that the Boston organization emphasized: his aggressiveness at the plate.
Before, Corsaletti was more focused on getting on base and not striking out. Now, he has a slightly different approach.
"I've been focused on driving the ball more in advantage counts," he said. "When pitchers get behind, I'm hitting their mistakes. It's working out really well."
The difference has been remarkable. Though Corsaletti is striking out more - 58 times in 76 games as opposed to 37 in the same timeframe last season - his production and power numbers have improved significantly. He is batting .310 at the midway point with 12 home runs, as opposed to half of that in all of last season. His doubles, triples and RBIs are all up as well.
But Corsaletti hasn't lost his patience at the plate. He has an otherworldly strikeout-to-walk ratio of almost one (58/51).
He also ranks first or second on the Sea Dogs in every offensive category.
It's no surprise, then, that he will be playing in his second consecutive Eastern League All-Star Game on Wednesday night in Manchester, N.H.
"It's an honor," Corsaletti said. "I'm really looking forward to it. We'll get to joke around, relax and have fun, and play a little baseball too."
As for what lies ahead, the UF alum said he's trying not too worry too much about when the call to Triple-A might come, though right now he has a very good shot at reaching Pawtucket before the end of the season.
He tries not to worry about much of anything these days - including those pesky scouting reports that say he won't be anything more than a backup in the majors.
"I'm just trying to make the big leagues any way I can," Corsaletti said. "I'll worry about where I'm playing when I get there. The goal right now is just to get there, and if it's as a fourth outfielder, then so be it.
"But I have the goal to be up there as an everyday player."
Someday, perhaps one corner of the outfield in Fenway Park will belong to the guy no one believed could claim it.
