Friday, September 19

BOSTON -- During batting practice, players, coaches and other staff typically mill around, doing a bunch of things and working off energy before the game starts.

But the Red Sox player who is easiest to spot is Liam Hendriks. Prior to just about any game, the righty reliever is standing on the warning track  just to the left of the Boston dugout interacting with groups of people who have field passes.

You will see Hendriks posing for pictures, signing autographs and being highly engaged in chit-chat. He often stands out there for close to an hour.

It is all part of the exhaustive community service he does that has led to the 36-year-old being nominated for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award for the seventh time in his career.

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As a cancer survivor himself -- Hendriks was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in December of 2022 -- he comfortably relates to people who are going through the same battles he once did.

Hendriks explained some specifics of his daily ritual at Fenway Park.

“So, generally, the ones at home are through Dana Farber and the Jimmy Fund. I like to work a lot with the young adult cancer ward because it tends to be the least talked about,” Hendriks said. “But also it's that stage where you're moving out of your home, you're starting college, you're in high school, you're starting a career and you may not necessarily have the avenues or the outlets to be able to talk to people about it because you are new in a certain area and people don't really want to ask about it. So having a conversation with that and getting people to be willing to talk about it, to get people to ask questions.”

As Hendriks has learned through the last few years, having people to talk to is a game-changer.

“The mind is such a powerful thing, and if you can change that and flip that into a positive mindset, it's amazing the repercussions that it has through treatment plans, and the amount of people that have, quote, unquote, had miracle diagnoses after just being willing to talk about it,” Hendriks said. “Just being open about it, sharing about their story, it's incredible. That’s the main goal of that is to just to raise that positive mindset, and remove the stigma from the words cancer, chemo and radiation.”

Though cancer is something Hendriks has personal experience with, he is multi-faceted with his philanthropy.

Hendriks is on pace to donate more than $750,000, his annual custom, to charitable causes, focusing his giving on cancer research and treatment and support for veterans and their families.

For Hendriks, it is about a lot more than writing a check. He gets in the trenches and searches for ways to help individuals and groups, using his platform to raise awareness and compassion.

“The guy's amazing,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “The last two years, the impact he’s had throughout the league, when he goes on the road just talking to cancer patients and their families, and what he’s done here at Fenway with his wife [Kristi], they’re great. They have impacted this city. Just to see them out there and contributing, regardless of what's going on on the field, it means a lot.”

This season, according to the Red Sox, Hendriks has already made 65 community appearances, totaling 51 hours of direct service. This has included visiting patients in local hospitals, spending time with cancer survivors, meeting with military families, or volunteering at Red Sox community events.

While injuries limited Hendriks to just 14 appearances this season, community service has given him an outlet that has helped compensate for the mental toll of not being able to perform on the field.

“It's been huge mentally, because you definitely feel like you're not contributing on the field and you're searching for ways to do anything,” said Hendriks. “Doing this has been very cathartic for me, especially with all the cancer visits and everything like that. Because I enjoy talking about it, and every time I do talk about it, every time I ask someone who's going through something similar or worse than I did or easier than I did, it just validates what we are able to do.”

It seems like a long time ago that Kristian Campbell making the team out of Spring Training was the biggest story for the Red Sox going into the season. The right-handed hitter won the American League’s Rookie of the Month Award in April, but slumped after that, getting optioned to Triple-A Worcester on June 19. Somewhat surprisingly, Campbell -- who signed an eight-year, $60 million contract a few days after Opening Day -- hasn’t resurfaced yet in Boston.

In 71 games and 263 at-bats for the WooSox, Campbell has a slash line of .274/.384/.418 with 10 doubles, eight homers and 36 RBIs.

“He’s had some good days hitting the ball hard, and others, not so great. He's been getting hits. He's been playing better defensively in the outfield,” said Cora. “There’s still work to do offensively, and we're going to grind with him.”

Cora was non-committal when asked if Campbell could be called up once the Triple-A season ends on Sunday.

While Trevor Story’s bat and glove have gotten him the most recognition in his career, his legs should not be discounted. On Tuesday, Story stole two bases to give him 30 in his first 30 attempts of the season, but on Wednesday -- after extending his streak to 31 in the sixth inning -- his streak was snapped after he was caught stealing second to end the bottom of the eighth inning.

The list of players since the expansion era (which started in 1961) who have stolen 30 bases or more without being caught to start a season is short. The only players to do it before Story? Trea Turner (30 straight in 2023), Carl Crawford (2009) and Vince Coleman (44 in 1989).

“I think his first step is great,” said Cora. “His leads are ones you should take a look at it. I think it's the biggest lead in the big leagues. I mentioned it a week ago, too. When [bench coach] Ramón Vázquez  was the first-base coach, he saw him the first time, he’s like, ‘Oh God, he's gonna be out.’ It was the other way around. He was safe easily. So he does everything fundamentally sound -- perfect -- to be in this position.”

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