Powered by Dr. Pepper Hunter Dobbins strikes out 7 in WooSox debut; 'It kind of settles the nerves a little bit'
After dominating Double-A lineups all season, right-handed pitcher Hunter Dobbins finally received a well-deserved promotion to Triple-A Worcester last week.
Dobbins made his WooSox debut on Friday, but before he threw his first Triple-A pitch, he cracked open a Dr. Pepper in the bullpen and took a sip, continuing his normal pregame ritual.
“It kind of settles the nerves a little bit and kind of gets me going,” Dobbins said to reporters on Thursday, including Tommy Cassell of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Dobbins, who drinks at least two Dr. Peppers before a game, looked solid in his WooSox debut, hurling five innings, allowing six hits, two runs, and four walks while striking out seven in Worcester’s 2-1 loss to the Toledo Mud Hens.
“I’m obviously honored to be here,” said Dobbins, who also celebrated his 25th birthday Friday. “The front office thinks I’m ready; I know I’m ready, so I’m just really looking forward to the opportunity to show that on Friday and as the season goes on. But they always tell us when we get to Triple A, we’re one phone call away and to be ready, and so I’m just going to keep honing in on my craft and keep getting better every day.
“And you know, when they need me, I’m looking forward to the call.”
While in Portland, Dobbins made 21 starts, posting a 7-3 with a 3.17 ERA. The 6-foot-2 right-hander struck out 97 batters in 105 innings while allowing just 37 earned runs and 39 walks.
The righty opened up the game by striking out the first two batters he faced. He would allow a run in the second inning following a Justice Bigbie single into right field. Dobbins would strike out two more batters before allowing another run in the top of the fifth.
“I’m a strong believer in ‘God has a plan,’” Dobbins said. “He’s put me in the right position, and now I’m a Red Sox. So I’m loving where I’ve ended up.”
Dobbins’ first Triple-A start is in the books, and he can settle in and finish the season strong. The hard-throwing righty should begin next season with the WooSox and be a potential big league depth piece if someone goes down with an injury.
Until he gets his opportunity at the major league level, Dobbins will continue to enjoy and crack open a Dr. Pepper before every game.
Red Sox minor leaguer’s pregame superstitions
Dobbins isn’t the only pitcher in the Red Sox system with a unique pregame ritual.
Portland Sea Dogs starter David Sandin watches one of the Star Wars movies before every outing.
“So the night before, actually, I usually watch just one of the Star Wars movies. Doesn't matter which one. I'll watch a Star Wars movie,” said Sandlin to Beyond the Monster.
“Typically, it tends to be Revenge of the Sith more than any of the other ones. But at the end of the day, I'll just be in the locker room listening to music and just being in that atmosphere of playing a baseball game. And that's why I love being a pitcher so much.”
Sandlin doesn’t know why Star Wars is his go-to movie, but the righty has always gravitated towards the iconic movie series.
“I've always just been a really big Star Wars fan,” added Sandlin. “It's kind of something I started doing with one of my roommates at OU, Carson Atwood.
“One week we had a Star Wars marathon. I think that was the week that I went and pitched down at Global Life against Texas. That was my first and only shutout that year against that kind of team, that rival. It kind of just stuck with me since then. And being an avid Star Wars fan, like those movies kind of get me fired up a little bit.”
Wade Boggs was the king of pregame rituals
Hall of Fame third baseman Wade Boggs earned the nickname “Chicken Man” due to his pregame meal ritual during his big league career.
Boggs would eat the same meal before every single game. He would sit down to a plate of fried chicken and then go out and play.
He would eat all kinds of chicken—grilled chicken, beer-can chicken, Italian chicken, or his wife’s popular fried chicken.
Boggs began eating chicken in 1983, the year he won his first batting title. Every time he ate chicken before a game, the hits just kept coming, and the ritual turned into a superstition.
The former batting champion picked up the habit in 1983 when a friend of his in Tampa Bay suggested he write a cookbook with his favorite chicken recipes from his mother, grandmother, and wife.
"A buddy of mine that owned a restaurant here in Tampa, Brad Gray, said, 'Hey, why don't you write a chicken cookbook with your grandmother's and mother's and wife's recipes and we'll go in and sell it,'" Boggs said to MLB.com in 2021.
He ate the chicken for the book, but then he started to get hits, and the ritual stuck throughout his career.
