Liam Hendriks Ingratiating Himself To Red Sox Fans With ‘Similar Accent’

The Boston Red Sox fan base can be intimidating to some players, but Liam Hendriks sees himself fitting in just fine playing in the sports-crazed city.

After all, the 35-year-old Australia native believes he sounds like Bostonians.

“Everybody speaks similar to my accent,” Hendriks told reporters Tuesday from JetBlue Park, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “Nobody pronounces their ‘Rs’ so we’re good there.”

There’s a good chance Red Sox fans will hear a lot from Hendriks, who signed a two-year deal worth a reported $10 million on Monday, but just not on the mound at first with the right-handed reliever recovering from Tommy John surgery. Hendriks already has a timeline in mind for his return, though.

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Hendriks said “he never shuts up” and “has a lot of annoying sayings,” per Smith. Manager Alex Cora already sees Hendriks making an impact on the Red Sox clubhouse.

“I don’t know if you noticed — more energy, louder in the clubhouse,” Cora told reporters, per Smith.

Hendriks, who beat non-Hodgkins lymphoma last year, is entering his 14th season in the big leagues and the Red Sox will be the sixth team he has pitched for in his career. But there’s just something different about putting on a Red Sox uniform for Hendriks as he’s lining up to become a fan favorite no matter how much he ends up pitching this season.

“I mean, it’s the Boston Red Sox. You’ve got a group of people that are not afraid to show emotion, they’re not afraid to be themselves and they’re not afraid to unite as a team and throughout the organization,” Hendriks said, per NESN. “It was a team I followed a lot as a kid. … The Red Sox and Cardinals were two of the teams that seemed to be on at all times. You have that connection with that.

“And then having a guy like (Lucas) Giolito here as well, you got the friendly face. And Reese McGuire, who’s great back there as well. It’s an exciting time for me to be here. I can’t believe it’s finally happening and now we get to talk about it a little bit more.”