Hanley Ramirez probably wasn’t going to be in much of a talking mood about the topic. But I still had a sidebar to write.

The date was April 19, 2015 – I was still a wide-eyed, 22-year-old kid fresh out of UMass, in my first year at the Herald, and I was assigned to cover the Red Sox’ game against the Orioles. I was excited, of course. A little nervous, too.

I joined the Herald’s beat writers in the Fenway Park press box and watched the Red Sox take a mostly forgettable 8-3 loss. My sidebar subject? Ramirez, who hit a home run in the game but also made another mistake defensively in left field, a new position he was struggling to transition to and never quite figured out. In the seventh inning, Ramirez had misjudged a fly ball at the Green Monster and it inexplicably dropped over his head for a double.

I raced down to the Red Sox clubhouse after the game to get quotes from Ramirez for my story. After a few minutes, a scrum formed near his locker. He answered a few questions. But I had to ask about that play.

“What happened on that fly ball in the seventh inning?” I asked, straightforwardly.

I didn’t exactly get an answer. Ramirez appeared annoyed and directed a question back at me.

“What did you see?” he asked. I stammered a bit, caught off guard. I mustered something about how it looked like he misjudged the ball. We went back and forth for a few moments.

“What do you want me to say?” Ramirez said, smirking a little.

The interview ended and I walked away to chat with our beat writers, who were Jason Mastrodonato and Scott Lauber. I told Jason what had transpired.

“Yeah, I forgot to tell you, Hanley can get a little sensitive,” Jason told me.

Thanks for the heads’ up, Jason!

It was something of my ‘welcome to the big leagues’ moment. And a lesson in asking better questions.

I must have done OK with that story. I kept getting chances. After 10 incredible years – and coincidentally, exactly nine since that game – Friday marked my final day as a sports reporter for the Herald. It’s hard to put into words, but I am forever grateful. The last decade was truly a dream come true.

I always knew I wanted to get into sports as I grew up in Taunton getting spoiled by the annual championships and parades in the 2000s. My love for writing and sports blended as I took a trip down to the UMass campus center basement as a freshman with an interest in writing for the Daily Collegian, the student newspaper. I got a chance to cover a UMass basketball game, and I was hooked.

Herald reporter Steve Hewitt interviews former Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas in a 2017 file photo.

I interned for WEEI and NESN in college before the Herald gave me my first big chance as a senior. UMass was good that season – ultimately making the NCAA Tournament – and ranked in the Top 25. I drove to Philadelphia to cover the Minutemen’s game at Saint Joseph’s, and Bob McGovern connected me with the Herald’s sports editors to freelance the game.

A few months later, Steve Buckley called to tell me there was an opening at the Herald for a part-time editorial assistant. I sent in my stuff, and less than a month after graduating, Hank Hryniewicz and Mark Murphy gave me a chance. I started at the Herald on June 3, 2014. The rest is history.

I cut my teeth working late nights in our Seaport office helping produce the agate pages alongside Vinnie Pullia and our awesome staff of copy editors. As time went on, I took on more responsibility and writing assignments, often supplementing our beat writers’ coverage with sidebars.

At another Red Sox game in 2015, I had trouble coming up with a pregame sidebar to write. Michael Silverman walked me down to the Red Sox dugout with a story idea about David Ortiz. I got him walking off after batting practice. Suddenly I was asking Big Papi – a guy who I idolized as a kid – a few questions. I walked away with a good story and a smile on my face. I was learning, and pinching myself that this was my job.

I got a chance to cover literally everything over the last 10 years, from the Boston Lobsters (if you know, you know) to Bill Belichick’s Patriots. I was the Herald’s utility man. One reporter nicknamed me ‘Big Game Hewitt’ because, well, I covered every big game. I covered the 2018 World Series, and the Patriots’ last Super Bowl in 2019. I did the NBA Finals and the NCAA Tournament. More pinch-me moments for a sports-obsessed Massachusetts kid.

I took great pride when Sean Leahy handed me the keys to our college basketball beat. I know this is a pro sports town, but I did and still believe that the college hoops programs around here deserve the coverage. My favorite story is still the one I did on Anthony Hodges, the former Salem State basketball player who told me about his miraculous journey back to the court in 2018, two years after he got paralyzed.

I’m indebted to bosses who believed in me over the years: Justin Pelletier put me on the Red Sox beat in 2019, and Bruce Castleberry trusted me to fill the legendary Mark Murphy’s shoes on the Celtics beat in 2022. Two days into that chapter, Ime Udoka was suspended. Life comes at you fast.

I’m so grateful for all the amazing teammates I had the chance to work with and colleagues I shared a press box with over the last decade, many of whom became great friends. Karen Guregian and Steve Buckley were among the first to take me under their wing. I truly learned from the best in the business.

Craziest day of the last 10 years? Had to be Oct. 11, 2021, when I ran the Boston Marathon and then recovered in enough time to get to Fenway Park to cover Game 4 of the ALDS, where the Red Sox advanced to the ALCS with a walk-off win over the Rays. I couldn’t pass up that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Yes, I am an absolute sicko.

BOSTON MA – October 11: Boston Herald Red Sox reporter Steve Hewitt on the field after running the Boston Marathon before Game 4 of the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on October 11, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)

It was fitting, in some ways, that the final game I covered for the Herald was last Sunday’s Celtics game, which was legendary broadcaster Mike Gorman’s final regular season game. My formative years as a kid were spent watching Celtics games and listening to Gorman, dreaming of a career like his. And while I certainly didn’t touch his greatness, I couldn’t help but connect to his journey as a local kid who got a chance to work in the big leagues.

“I never thought I would end up here,” Gorman said last Sunday. The feeling was mutual.

As I move on to my next chapter, I’ll be forever grateful for these 10 years and for having a seat at the media table in the greatest sports city in the world. Whether you read online or picked up the paper with your morning coffee, it’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve your passion for Boston sports with my words in the pages of the Herald. I hope I helped you build a deeper connection and a better understanding and perspective of the teams and players you love to cheer for. I hope I made you proud.

Now let’s grab a drink and watch the Celtics game.

Cheers, Boston.