Article reposted from Seacoastonline.com
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The Eastern League Double-A all-star game is Wednesday night in Manchester, N.H., and Bob Tarpey, a 1999 graduate of York High School, will be right in the middle of the action.
Tarpey is currently in his eighth season as athletic trainer of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, and will serve as the head trainer for the mid-summer classic at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.
“It’s going to be awesome,” said Tarpey before Tuesday’s Home Run Derby. “We hosted this game back in 2011, that was good, and I am sure this will be just as good.”
The game is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m., while a pre-game autograph session is scheduled from 4 to 5:45 p.m.
“I am pretty excited for (the game),” Tarpey said. “It will be pretty neat to see the players from around the league. Some people would love a three-day all-star break, but you never know how long you’re going to be doing this and you can’t take it for granted. It’s pretty neat to see that level of talent get together on the field.”
This is Tarpey’s fourth all-star game he has been a part of. His first was in 2008 in the Midwest League, and then the Double-A game in 2011, and most recently, being part of the 2015 Futures Game at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“I’ve had some pretty good experiences with all-star games,” Tarpey said. “I am looking forward to this one, it’s nice to have it back at our home ball park. We’re going to get a lot of people at the stadium and a big crowd will be rocking, it should be a lot of fun.”
Tarpey, who played football, hockey and baseball at York, said being involved in the Futures Game and the Fisher Cats winning the Eastern League championship in 2011 are his career highlights.
“Two years have flown by (since the Futures game), that was an amazing experience in a great city with great people,” Tarpey said. “It’s certainly an elite memory that I hold a special place in my heart for.”
Rafael Devers, 20, is the top-rated prospect with the Boston Red Sox and is the youngest player in this year’s all-star game.
Tarpey and Devers shared a dugout two years ago in the Futures Game.
Tarpey will also be reunited with Jairo Labourt, a left-handed pitcher with the Erie SeaWolves of the Detroit Tigers organization. The Blue Jays dealt Labourt to the Tigers as part of the David Price trade in the summer of 2015.
Tarpey and Labourt were the lone Blue Jays representatives in the Futures Game; Labourt was traded about three weeks after the game.
“To be able to see (Labourt) go out there and dominate in Cincy was pretty special,” Tarpey said. “It will be fun to see him compete in another all-star game.”
Tarpey was voted the Midwest League athletic trainer of the year in 2008 when he worked with the Single-A Lansing Lugnuts. He is in his 10th year in the Blue Jays organization, the last eight with the Fisher Cats.
“The last eight years that I’ve had in New Hampshire have been nothing short of perfect,” Tarpey said. “I love working with the Fisher Cats, and have loved every minute here. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, I’ve really enjoyed my time with the Blue Jays organization.
“If I get to the big leagues great, if not, then I am very glad I’ve been able to spend so many years with the Fisher Cats,” Tarpey continued. “They have been a first class organization and being able to spend eight years with one team, I am glad it was with the Fisher Cats, for sure.”
