Hunter Dobbins inserted himself into the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry in a bizarre way this week. It did not work out well for him.
The Red Sox pitcher made his first start against the Yankees last weekend but made more headlines with what he said going into the game. The right-hander, a Red Sox fan growing up, certainly said what his fan base wanted to hear, claiming that he would retire rather than sign a contract with the Yankees.
But then he added a couple of other claims, via the Boston Herald.
Dobbins mentioned that his father, Lance Dobbins, was “really good friends” with Yankees great Andy Pettitte and had a short career with the team before becoming a die-hard Sox fan:
“He was actually drafted twice by the Yankees,” his son said. “Signed with them his last year, and then he got traded over to the Diamondbacks.”
That story went off the rails Tuesday after some fact-checking by the New York Post’s Joel Sherman. The Post could not verify any of Dobbins’ claims, with no record of a draft pick under that name.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who has held the position since 1998 and has been with the team’s front office since 1986, said he has no memory of drafting Lance Dobbins, and a check with the amateur department revealed no record of such a pick.
There appears to be a Lance Dobbins who played professional baseball, but only in the independent leagues in 1996 and 1997, according to Baseball Reference. B-Ref’s database of draft picks also contains nobody by the name of Lance Dobbins, and a scan through the website of Alabama baseball, where Dobbins claimed his father played before going pro, reveals no mention of a Dobbins since 1995.
With all of this flying around, Hunter spoke with the media Wednesday and didn’t directly repudiate his father but admitted he didn’t double-check any claims, either:
“The whole backstory is stuff that I had heard growing up and seeing pictures from my dad. At the end of the day, it’s just from my dad and what kind of grew my love for the game. At the end of the day, I don’t go and fact-check my dad or anything like that.”
When asked how the fallout of the Post’s story affected him, Dobbins dismissed it:
“Doesn’t phase me. Doesn’t bother me. I love working with the media and everybody here. Everybody’s been great, so my focus is performing for the guys here in the locker room, for the fans of Boston. Something that’s a few hours away doesn’t phase me.”
While Dobbins said he doesn’t mind what New York is saying, he is scheduled to make another start against the Yankees on Saturday, the day before Father’s Day.
One other oddity of the story is that while Lance Dobbins’ apparent narrative didn’t hold up, there is record of a Chris Dobbins who was drafted by the Yankees in the 28th round of the 1999 MLB Draft, from a community college in Alabama (though not the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, as the Herald story indicated). It could be nothing, given that Hunter didn’t correct any part of the record Wednesday, but it’s at least quite a coincidence.
The Red Sox drafted Hunter Dobbins out of Texas Tech in the eighth round of the 2021 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut this year and holds a 4.20 ERA in 49 1/3 innings so far in his career.
