On Wednesday, Boston Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony hit a fastball from Baltimore Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano to straightaway center field. The ball died on the warning track and turned into an easy out.
On Monday, Anthony saw Sugano again and got another fastball. This time, he got all of it and led off the game with a solo home run to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.
According to Sarah Langs, Anthony became the youngest player in Red Sox franchise history to hit a lead-off home run. Anthony accomplished the feat at 21 years and 104 days old, surpassing Bobby Doerr’s record of 21 years and 116 days.
Anthony was pleased to learn he put his name in the Red Sox record books once again.
“It’s pretty cool,” Anthony said with a smile on his face. “It’s good. I like that. Sweet. Thanks for letting me know,” he laughed.
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Anthony became the first Red Sox rookie to lead off a game with a home run since Ceddanne Rafaela hit one in 2023. He was also the first rookie to do it on the road since Mookie Betts in 2014, which also took place in Baltimore.
It seems like Anthony is adding to his ledger every day. While the “youngest since” records will stop accumulating eventually, he’ll only continue climbing Red Sox leaderboards.
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