{"id":50544,"date":"2025-04-07T07:00:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T07:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=50544"},"modified":"2025-04-07T07:00:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T07:00:40","slug":"red-sox-starter-hunter-dobbins-family-traveled-overnight-in-snow-for-mlb-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=50544","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox starter Hunter Dobbins\u2019 family traveled overnight (in snow) for MLB debut"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Hunter<\/p>\n

BOSTON \u2014 \u00a0Red Sox rookie Hunter Dobbins\u2019 wife Lexie traveled through Texas snow (yes, snow!) in the middle of the night as part of her journey to Fenway Park to see Hunter\u2019s MLB debut Sunday.<\/p>\n

Dobbins, a top Boston pitching prospect, started for the Red Sox on ESPN\u2019s Sunday Night Baseball against the Cardinals.<\/p>\n

Dobbins was initially scheduled to start Sunday for Triple-A Worcester in Jacksonville, Fla. But the Red Sox needed another pitcher for Sunday after Saturday\u2019s game got rained out and moved to Sunday for a day-night doubleheader.<\/p>\n

Lexie was the first person Hunter called after WooSox manager Chad Tracy told him the news Saturday evening.<\/p>\n

Lexie attends nursing school at Lubbock Christian University. She was in the middle of a clinical at the hospital when Dobbins called.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw his name pop up on my phone and I was like, \u2018Something\u2019s happening here\u2019 because he knew I couldn\u2019t answer my phone but I did,\u201d Lexie said.<\/p>\n

She excused herself momentarily to take Hunter\u2019s call.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d Lexie said. \u201cI didn\u2019t think it was going to happen yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither did Hunter, who the Red Sox added to their 40-man roster\u00a0last November to protect him from being eligible to other organizations in the Rule 5 Draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I\u2019d get a shot this year if I just stuck to business as usual, did my thing. I didn\u2019t know it was gonna be this quick,\u201d Hunter said Sunday morning inside the Red Sox clubhouse.<\/p>\n

Hunter traveled to Boston last night on JetBlue, a direct flight that landed around midnight.<\/p>\n

Getting here wasn\u2019t as easy for Lexie and Hunter\u2019s other family members.<\/p>\n

Lexie\u2019s mother Kendra Riggs lives in Artesia, N.M. She drove three hours to Lubbock to meet up with Lexie. From there, they both drove overnight to Dallas to fly out of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.<\/p>\n

They arrived in Dallas around 4 a.m. They had booked a hotel room but the hotel actually gave their room away. So they changed in the hotel bathroom, then headed to the airport at 5 a.m. for their 7:05 a.m. flight.<\/p>\n

It snowed on their drive out of Lubbock, which is about five hours from Dallas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like 89 (degrees) the day before,\u201d Lexie said, laughing. \u201cAnd the week before it was like a sandstorm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunter\u2019s dad, Lance Dobbins, and his brother, Brody Dobbins, were at Brody\u2019s baseball practice when Hunter called to tell them the news.<\/p>\n

Hunter\u2019s dad Lance said he looked down at his phone and thought it was \u201cjust an odd time\u201d for his son to be calling.<\/p>\n

Lance said he had a tough day Saturday. And so when he answered, Hunter asked him, \u201cYou want me to make your day better?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I was like, \u2018Yeah.\u2019 He goes, \u2018I\u2019m headed to Boston.\u2018\u201d<\/p>\n

Lance described hearing the news as \u201csurreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got emotional and so I handed the phone to (Brody),\u201d Lance said. \u201c(Hunter) said, \u2018Tell dad don\u2019t call mom. I\u2019m calling mom.\u2018\u201d<\/p>\n

Devra Dobbins was about to head to Brody\u2019s practice. She was actually texting Hunter videos of Brody\u2019s game from the night before when he called.<\/p>\n

Hunter often texts with his mom. She joked he typically calls for three reasons:<\/p>\n

\u201cPromoted, Mother\u2019s Day or birthday,\u201d Devra said, laughing. \u201cOther than that, it\u2019s text. So I was like, \u2018Stop it!\u2018\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunter\u2019s parents and brother live in Bryan, Texas, about two and a half hours from the Dallas airport.<\/p>\n

Brody, a 16-year-old pitcher who already stands at 6-foot-5, said he didn\u2019t even know how to reply to his brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re nine years apart,\u201d Brody said. \u201cSo when he was in high school, I was still young. When he was in college, we spent a lot of time together whenever we had time together. … He\u2019s a huge role model.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the family\u2019s first time at Fenway Park. They were here last September when the organization presented Hunter with the\u00a02024 Red Sox minor league Starting Pitcher of the Year award.<\/p>\n

Lance is close friends with former Red Sox manager Grady Little. And so he and Devra visited Fenway Park 20-something years ago when Little managed here.<\/p>\n

\u201cDevra and I came out and spent a week. And we were laughing because we were sitting right there,\u201d Lance said, pointing to the next section over while sitting in his seats before Hunter\u2019s start Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrady\u2019s younger brother Tommy was my summer league coach,\u201d Lance added. \u201cAnd Grady and I just hit it off. So I just looked up to Grady a lot. Asked a lot of questions. I bounced a lot of stuff off of Grady when I was in pro ball. He was always so matter of fact about things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lance, who pitched in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and Indy Ball, said Tom Little, also an agent at Ballengee, recommended they hire Alex Wilson as Hunter\u2019s agent.<\/p>\n

Wilson, an agent at Ballengee Group, pitched for the Red Sox in 2013 and \u201814 before before being traded to the Tigers in the Rick Porcello deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s our other connection to the Red Sox is Alex Wilson playing here,\u201d Lance said. \u201cIt\u2019s a small world.\u201d<\/p>\n

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