Red Sox pitcher Hunter Dobbins defends discrepancies about his father playing for Yankees

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BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox rookie Hunter Dobbins made some headlines prior to his first career start against the Yankees last week when he said he'd rather retire than pitch for New York.

Now he's explaining why the claims he made about his father once playing in the minors for Boston's longtime rival aren't the intentional fabrication a New York Post report says they were.

Hunter Dobbins said Wednesday he was made aware of the Post story, but said there is nothing nefarious about the connections he said his father had to the Yankees.

“My feelings and all that are based on my personal experiences and nothing to do with growing up or family,” Dobbins said. “The whole backstory is stuff I heard growing up and seen pictures of from my dad. At the end of my day it’s just from my dad and how I kind of grew my love for the game. But at the end of the day I don’t go and fact-check my dad or anything like that.”

In a June 7 Boston Herald feature on Dobbins that ran the day before he allowed three runs and four hits in five innings of an 11-7 win over the Yankees, he said that his father, Lance Dobbins, had been drafted twice by the Yankees before being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The story also makes reference to Dobbins saying his father was friends with Andy Pettitte, who played 15 major league seasons with New York.

But the Post report found no evidence of any of that, citing multiple official databases and the Yankees' own records that couldn't substantiate Lance Dobbins having played with the organization. Lance Dobbins' own profile on Baseball-Reference.com doesn't list any Yankees affiliation. The 2025 Red Sox Media Guide does mention him on Hunter Dobbins' biography page, but says only that Lance "pitched for 2 seasons (1996-97) in the Diamondbacks organization.”

Dobbins, who is scheduled to pitch again against the Yankees on Saturday at Fenway Park, said he has since spoken to his father “a little, but not really” about the Post story that first noted the discrepancies.

“My whole focus is on Saturday and getting ready to face the Yankees," Hunter Dobbins said. "This is my first time in the big leagues facing a team for a second time, let alone back-to-back. So that's where my focus is 100%. I imagine we'll talk in the future or something like that. But it's been a bigger deal than it ever really needed to be. But at the end of the day I really just need to get ready to go for Saturday”

The 25-year-old is 3-1 with a 4.20 ERA this season.

He said he isn't surprised the story has gotten the attention it has in recent days.

“This is a great rivalry," Dobbins said. "Two cities that have a long history together. Anything that's kind of in the news that goes with both of them, that's going to turn into a story. It adds to the game and we just have to embrace it and keep rolling.”

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