Andrew Benintendi
Needing some insurance runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the season opener on Yawkey Way Monday afternoon, the Red Sox turned to none other than rookie slugging aficionado, 22-year-old Andrew Benintendi.
Facing Pirates ace Gerrit Cole in the bottom of the fifth inning, Benintendi’s blast into the visiting bullpen gave the Red Sox a 5-0 lead, breaking the game wide open and giving Rick Porcello all he would need in his first start since winning the Cy Young Award.
For Benintendi, he became the youngest Red Sox hitter to homer in a season opener since young Tony Conigliaro did at the ripe age of 20.
Andrew Benintendi, @asben16, gets started early with his first home run of the year, a 390ish foot shot to right #RedSox pic.twitter.com/NNbWyqrbOh
— Roofoh (@jroofoh) April 3, 2017
Benintendi, as he was rounding the bases appeared to point to someone sitting in the left field corner. Post-game it was discovered that Benintendi was pointing to his parents. Not a bad way for two parents to watch their son’s first Opening Day baseball game.
If you’re curious who Andrew Benintendi was pointing to as he rounded the bases during his home run, it was his parents. pic.twitter.com/ymp5hhKFJD
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) April 3, 2017
Finally, something purely hypothetical at this point in time, but Tim Britton of the Providence Journal tweeted something interesting Tuesday morning following the victory. Thanks to a tip from another user, Britton came across an interesting comparison, placing one Red Sox and baseball legend looking eerily similar to Benintendi’s.
With a h/t to @TuvixMcT, here's Yaz and Benintendi side by side: pic.twitter.com/GqpXXQSIvd
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) April 4, 2017
While Benintendi’s career may never equal that of Yaz’s, the prior still led his team to an Opening Day victory, playing an adequate left field while providing a big fly for the team to bust it wide open.
Sounds to me like one in the same.