Resilience has helped Boston Red Sox catcher Mickey Gasper ’18 achieve his dreams of playing in the major leagues, but Gasper told Bryant University students during a recent campus visit that he had to learn patience, first.
“I wasn't a top dog as a first-year at Bryant, but I made sure to make the most of [being] a teammate, cheering the other guys on, and capitalizing on my opportunities to play,” Gasper said during a Nov. 9 discussion sponsored by the university’s Student Programming Board.
Often utilized as a pinch hitter when he was first got called up to the major leagues, Gasper said his Bryant experience gave him the patience to wait for his turn while continuing to hone his skills so he’d be ready when the chance to play came.
In addition to mental challenges, which included several trips back and forth to the minors after making his major league debut in 2024, Gasper has confronted physical setbacks. For instance, in September he experienced a biceps tendon tear, which ended a breakout season where he collected 48 hits — including 10 home runs — in 191 at-bats with the Red Sox.
Asked about the message he wanted to send to Bryant students, he replied, “Be resilient, handle failure gracefully, and learn from it.”
“Be resilient, handle failure gracefully, and learn from it.”
During the Q&A session, as well as in an interview with WJAR-10 sports reporter and Bryant alum Nicole Menner ‘17 and conversations with Bryant faculty, staff, students, and former teammates, Gasper, 31, reflected fondly on his time on campus.
“A lot of my memories come from before the major improvements here, thinking about lifting weights in the basement and our 10-by-10 locker room in the Chace Center,” said Gasper, who laughed while recalling team breakfasts in Salmanson Dining Hall when pitcher James Karinchak (who now plays for the Atlanta Braves) would consume a plate loaded with hard-boiled eggs — to the amazement and mild disgust of his teammates.
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Gasper said coming to Bryant as a first-year student taught him organization skills that he has utilized throughout his career, and that playing baseball with a team that included future major leaguers like Karinchak and outfielder Ryan Ward of the Los Angeles Dodgers gave him the edge he needed to reach the pinnacle of the sport.
“This program is very competitive,” he said. “Coach [Steve Owens] always wanted you to be a baseball player. School mattered a lot, but he wanted you to be committed to the craft of baseball.”
He noted that Karinchak was the most competitive person he’d ever met. "When it comes to eating, playing video games, playing pick-up basketball — everything was a competition,” said Gasper, adding: “From the moment that I got on Bryant’s campus, it was about finding ways to be better than the guy next to you in a positive way. We loved each other and we wanted everybody to do great, but at the same time we all wanted to be better than each other.”
“From the moment that I got on Bryant’s campus, it was about finding ways to be better than the guy next to you in a positive way. We loved each other and we wanted everybody to do great, but at the same time we all wanted to be better than each other.”
Bill Smith, Bryant’s vice president of athletics and recreation, has enjoyed watching Gasper’s career progress from college through the minor and major leagues.
“I’m so proud to see what he's accomplished, but I'm not surprised,” said Smith. “He wasn't our everyday catcher until his junior year, and he fought his way through that and outworked everyone else.”
In response to questions from the on-stage interviewers Jessica Queeney ‘27 and Corey Roberts ‘27, as well as those submitted by Bryant students, Gasper shared how faith and family support have sustained him throughout his career; the moment he realized the Red Sox were going to turn their season around this year after a slow start; the origin of his signature mustache (which has now evolved into a goatee); and some of his favorite baseball memories.
“There are so many ups and downs in baseball,” he said. “You play 162 games and you feel good for about 20 of them physically. But if I told my four-year-old self I was going to be a major leaguer, it would not matter if I had only [one at-bat]. He’d be thrilled.”
Dressed in a Red Sox jersey and hat, Inge-Lise Ameer, Ph.D., Bryant’s vice president of student affairs and dean of students, was among audience members inspired by Gasper’s journey.
“His story is all about grit and resiliency, and we can all learn from that,” she said.
“His story is all about grit and resiliency, and we can all learn from that."
Gasper said coming to Bryant to share his story is “why we play the game and try to push yourself through all those years — just to leave an impact and be somebody the newer generations will remember.”