Andrew Benintendi made some crucial and memorable plays during the Boston Red Sox’s playoff run last year. While some moments warranted some visible emotion for the left fielder, other times he hardly showed any.
The Red Sox outfielder considers himself to be a “low-key” kind of person, never showing much emotion on the diamond, even as a kid. Of course, fans saw some jubilation during Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros when Benintendi made a game-ending, game-saving diving catch to give Boston a commanding 3-1 series lead.
“Never get too high, never get too low,” Benintendi told MassLive. “But yeah, maybe because that situation was during the playoffs. I was definitely excited. It’s probably the most emotion I’ve shown on the field. But no, I wouldn’t have dove if I didn’t think I was going to catch it or there was any doubt in my mind at all. Yeah, I was pumped.
“If that was any other game, it’s just like, ‘All right. The game’s over. Let’s play again tomorrow,'” he added. “But obviously that was Game 4 to put us up 3-1 against that team. So that was big.”
Don’t expect the 24-year-old to show that kind of Game 4 emotion during the regular season. It appears he just bottles it all up until the playoffs and lets it all out when he makes a big play that ultimately helps lead his team to a World Series title.
