Ahead of the Boston Red Sox’s series finale against the New York Yankees on Sunday, Red Sox rookie pitcher Hunter Dobbins made a bold claim by stating he’d rather retire before playing for the Yankees.
“This is one that I’ve had circled for a long time,” Dobbins told Gabrielle Starr of The Boston Herald. “My dad was a diehard Red Sox fan. And I’ve said it before, that if the Yankees were the last team to give me a contract, I’d retire.”
Fortunately for Dobbins, he was drafted by the Red Sox, making it easy for him to continue his “disdain” for the Yankees. On Sunday, he makes his first career start against the Yankees.
Ahead of the start, Yankees manager Aaron Boone couldn’t help but chuckle as he weighed in on Dobbins’s comments.
“He’s young,” Boone said. “I don’t know, I don’t think it’s a dig at our players. It’s an interesting comment as a player to make that. I think it’s just a comment of his love of his team is all. A little funny.”
Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. posted a positive reaction to Dobbins’s claim, writing on X: “I think there should be more trash talk in baseball!!! Anyone agrees!?”
Boone did not agree with Chisholm’s take either. “Not really … I’m not craving more trash talk,” Boone said. “I’ve gotten my fill from these college regionals and some of the nonsense that I see going on, like, what are we doing? No, I’m not craving that, but it doesn’t bother me, either.”
In Dobbins’s first inning pitching against the Yankees after his “trash talk,” he gave up a two-run home run to Aaron Judge, who launched a 436-foot homer to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Through the first nine starts of his career, Dobbins is 2-1 with a 4.06 ERA and 37 strikeouts.
