After Liam & family get disturbing death threats, Red Sox manager stands firmly in support of pitcher

Bos Red Sox pitcher Liam Hendricks shared the unsavory side of being a major league player as he revealed his family receiving death threats after Thursday's loss to the New York Mets.

Hendricks made the revelation in an Instagram post, saying the threats to his family were "horrible and cruel." The 36-year-old pitched out of the bullpen in the team's 5-1 loss on Wednesday.

"Just as an FYI: Threats against me and my wife's life are horrible and cruel. You need help," Hendriks wrote in the post. "Leaving comments and telling me to commit suicide and how you wish I died from cancer is disgusting and vile."

Ahead of Friday's series opener against the Baltimore Orioles, Red Sox manager Alex Cora shared support for his reliever, who is in the second season with the team.

"We're in the public eye, and people feel they have the right to say whatever they want," Cora said. "Sometimes, it comes from real people. Other times, it comes from burner accounts, fake people. It puts everyone in a tough spot."

Cora also supported Hendricks calling out abusive fans in his Instagram post on Thursday.

"I understand what he's trying to accomplish," Cora said. "We have to protect our players, and we have to voice what we think."

Red Sox manager Alex Cora recalls seeking MLB's help to protect family

Alex Cora was embroiled in controversy during his stint with the Houston Astros. Cora recalled putting his family in the line of fire after his involvement in the Astros' sign-stealing scandal. He reached out to MLB's security division in the wake of the controversial scandal in 2017.

"I put my family in a tough spot, especially when the news came out. It was dangerous, and we were afraid, to be honest," Cora said. "I don't want to go into details, but they did an amazing job."

Liam Hendricks has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the past and has played 11 games for the Red Sox this season.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash