Red Sox outfielder and beloved honorary member of the Waltham community Kyle Schwarber continues to impress his fans — and his newfound community.
Joey LaCava of the Shoppers Cafe Bar and Grille in Waltham still can't believe the call he got Friday: an order for dozens of pizzas for firefighters and first responders, placed by the agent of Boston Red Sox player Kyle Schwarber.
"They said they wanted to do something for the first responders of Waltham, and we're a huge supporter of the first responders, so we wanted to make sure we were involved," said LaCava.
And the backstory is a fun one. Schwarber is an Ohio native, but hea has locally been renamed "Kyle from Waltham."
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It all started with Jared Carrabis, who recently created the nickname on his popular Red Sox podcast, saying Schwarber sounds like he could a local from Massachusetts.
Schwarber, playing into it, wore a Waltham Hawks shirt during a postgame news conference last week.
"It was hysterical, and we said, 'Absolutely, we want to be a part of this,'" LaCava said. "It's just been great."
The Waltham firefighters posted about their special delivery from Kyle from Waltham online.
"We didn't think it would blow up like this, but it's great for Waltham, it's great for New England, and great for the Red Sox," said Waltham firefighter Ismael Torres.
But the story doesn't end there.
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The Waltham firefighters decided to pay it forward, buying dozens of pizzas for the firefighters in Schwarber's real hometown of Middletown, Ohio.
"We decided in the spirit of the brotherhood, we were going to include the Middletown Fire Department down in Ohio, in his real hometown, so he could be part of this night," said Waltham firefighter Jeff Scafidi.
The firefighters in Ohio thanked their fellow firefighters for passing on their kindness and said they would be cheering on Red Sox Friday night.
