Red Sox rookie Hunter Dobbins speaks out after false claims about dad's Yankees ties exposed

New York Post

a day ago

Access the Yankees beat like never before
Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees. Try it free
Hunter Dobbins directed the blame squarely at his father.
The rookie Red Sox pitcher on Wednesday responded to The Post's bombshell that uncovered discrepancies in his story about his father's history with the Yankees.
'The whole back story, it was stuff that I had heard growing up and seen pictures of, from my dad,' Dobbins said before the Red Sox-Rays game at Fenway Park. 'At the end of the day, it's just from my dad and what I kind of grew my love for the game. At the end of the day, I don't go fact-check my dad or anything like that.'
Dobbins made headlines when he told the Boston Herald that he'd retire before ever playing for the Yankees, explaining that his father, Lance, was twice drafted by the Bombers, signed after the second selection and was subsequently traded to the Diamondbacks.
But The Post's Joel Sherman reported that Lance Dobbins does not appear as a Yankees draft pick for any season on Baseball Reference and that Yankees GM Brian Cashman — who has been with the organization since 1986 — has no recollection of the Yankees ever drafting a Lance Dobbins.
3 Hunter Dobbins speaks to the media on Wednesday.
X / @WEEI
Cashman also told Sherman that the Yankees amateur department checked their records and could not find anything about drafting a Lance Dobbins.
Even further, Joe Garagiola Jr. and Buck Showalter, who were with the Diamondbacks in 1996-97, told Sherman they had no recollection of a Lance Dobbins.
MLB itself could not find a Lance Dobbins having played at any level with any of the league's 30 teams.
Has Dobbins spoken with his father to straighten out what really happened?
'A little bit, not really,' Dobbins said. 'My whole focus is on Saturday, getting ready to face the Yankees. This is my first time in the big leagues facing a team a second time, let alone back-to-back. So that's where my focus is, 100 percent. I imagine we'll talk in the future or something like that. It's been a bigger deal than it really needed to be.'
Dobbins, in the Boston Herald story, also said his dad and Yankees great Andy Pettitte were 'really good friends.'
But Pettitte told Sherman that neither he nor anyone he asked in his family remembers a Lance Dobbins.
3 Hunter Dobbins directed the blame at his father regarding the discrepancies in his story about his family's history with the Yankees.
AP
When asked specifically about The Post's story, Dobbins tried to downplay its impact.
'Doesn't faze me,' he said. 'Doesn't bother me. I love working with the media and everybody here. Everybody's been great. My focus is performing for the guys here in the locker room, for the fans in Boston. Something that's a few hours away doesn't faze me.'
Dobbins said he was not surprised at how much his comments blew up.
3 Hunter Dobbins pitches during the Red Sox-Yankees game on June 8, 2025.
Getty Images
He pitched five innings, gave up three runs and earned a win — the first of his career — in an 11-7 Red Sox win over the Yankees on Sunday.
He is expected to start on Saturday when the Red Sox host the Yankees at Fenway Park.
'This is a great rivalry, two cities that have a long history together,' Dobbins said. 'Anything that's in the news that goes with both of them is gonna turn into a story. It just adds to the game, we just have to embrace it and keep rolling.'