Zink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay Charlie!!!!!!!!! (Photo taken by Kelly Jefferson)

There are some guys you just have to root for (See Snyder, Kyle)…and Charlie Zink is one of them.

This article in the Boston Globe’s Sunday Magazine brought Charlie’s story to a large audience. But there were a few of us who had already been following his career prior to that (shout outs to both the Kellys here!).

Charlie did everything he was supposed to do. He listened to the team. He became a knuckleballer even though it wasn’t what he was trained to do (nor what he wanted to do). After years of toiling in the minors, he’s become one of the best pitchers in the International League (and those rat bastards didn’t even let him in the All Star Game, after he was chosen for the team, because they wanted a “fresh arm”. Fresh arm my ass…he threw onFriday and the freaking Boston Red Sox think his arm is good enough to have him throw on Tuesday. Fuck you, International League!).

Whoops, digressed a little there. Sorry.

The point being, it was looking like Zink was never going to get his shot in the majors. There was no place for him on the 25-man roster and he wasn’t even ON the 40-man roster. As good as he was pitching in AAA, other teams weren’t looking for him in a trade deal, scared off by the unknown elements of knuckle-ball pitching.

But no freaking matter now. Charlie’s going to The Show. Tomorrow night to fill in for Tim Wakefield while he’s on the disabled list. (And, yes, I went on to RedSox.com not too long ago and got myself a ticket to tomorrow night’s game.)

Hell, I’ve seen Charlie pitch 72 times in Pawtucket, so I wanted to be there for his first time in Fenway!

Again, how can you not root for this guy?

“This is everything I have ever dreamed of,” said Zink moments ago. “It has come true now and I’m going to the major leagues. It’s ridiculous. I’m at a loss for words. I really don’t know what to say about it. I’ll be smiling forever now. This is just awesome. Awesome.”

I am ridiculously happy for the guy. It’s taken 7 years, but he’s finally getting his shot. Good luck, Charlie!!!