By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer
Red Sox pitcher draws 5,000 to downtown Portland for free concert.

PORTLAND – In the moments before Bronson Arroyo took the stage Thursday – facing a crowd of 5,000 in Portland’s Monument Square – his hands and fingers shook.

Perhaps in baseball, he’s fearless. But here, making music rather than pitching, he feels butterflies.

“I always get nervous before I play,” Arroyo said.

Only hours earlier, he drew a standing ovation from 35,000 people at Boston’s Fenway Park. Strumming his guitar and singing, a skill he’s practiced far less than pitching, takes so much concentration. He worries he’ll make a mistake.

On Thursday, there were none.

The 28-year-old Red Sox pitcher played flawlessly, entertaining people for more than half an hour in a free concert.

The event was meant to pitch his new CD, a collection of cover tunes titled “Covering the Bases.” The songs are some of Arroyo’s favorites, mostly early 1990s grunge rock songs by bands such as Stone Temple Pilots, Goo Goo Dolls and Pearl Jam.

Arroyo, who seems easy-mannered and soft-spoken in conversation, has a singing voice that recalls the same wounded baritone of singers such as Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Scott Stapp of Creed.

“The dark music just feels good,” Arroyo said. “I don’t know where it comes from, though.”

It’s a question he gets a lot.

“I’m happy almost every day of the year,” he said. That light side comes out when he writes music.

“What comes out is Jimmy Buffett,” said Arroyo, who grew up among Buffet’s notoriously laid-back fans in Key West, Fla. “I don’t want to sing that.”

His darker songs seemed to be a hit with the Portland crowd, who bought an estimated 900 copies of the CD at the show, then lined up for an autograph by the Red Sox star.

Among the people who gathered were Laura Veit of Lewiston, her 11-year-old son, Troy, and her mother-in-law, Kathy Durgan.

All three went to Boston on Wednesday, watching Arroyo pitch a gem before driving the nearly three hours back to Lewiston. They slept for four hours, then drove to Portland to see their hero again.

“He could give up his day job,” said Durgan, who loves the CD. “But I don’t want him to.”

There’s no danger of that, Arroyo said. Baseball is still his “number one gig.”

About halfway through his concert, the Lewiston family hopped into the quickly growing autograph line. An hour later, they stood in front of Arroyo.

Speechless, Laura Veit snapped a photo. Durgan told him how they’d been to the game. Troy stood in front of the big leaguer and beamed.

“You pitched a great game,” the boy said.

Arroyo smiled back pleasantly. He thanked them and signed their CDs.

As she stepped away, Laura was shaking.

“If that was Johnny Damon, I’d have died,” she said.

Arroyo signed everyone’s CDs, spending more than an hour saying hello and shaking hands when asked.

Hours later, Arroyo said he felt fine. He didn’t worry about hurting his million-dollar arm.

“If I take my time and talk to people, I can do it all day,” he said. He has to be careful, though.

For instance, he won’t play guitar while wearing his world championship ring. He could hurt his wrist strumming his guitar while wearing the gem-encrusted prize.

“It’s too heavy, man,” Arroyo said.

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