Boston Red Sox right-hander Hunter Dobbins responded to a report from Joel Sherman of the New York Post that suggested the pitcher made false claims about the playing career of his father, Lance Dobbins.
"The whole backstory, stuff that I had heard growing up, and seen pictures from my dad - at the end of the day, it's just from my dad, and what kind of grew my love for the game," Dobbins said, according to MLB.com's Molly Burkhardt.
"But at the end of the day, I don't go and fact-check my dad or anything like that."
On Sunday, Hunter Dobbins told Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald his father was drafted twice by the Yankees and that Andy Pettitte and his dad were "really good friends." He added, "If the Yankees were the last team to give me a contract, I'd retire."
The comment about retirement caused a stir among Yankees players, including two-time MVP Aaron Judge, who said he was surprised by what the Red Sox rookie had to say.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told Sherman he had no recollection of drafting Lance and confirmed with members of the organization they never drafted him.
Meanwhile, Pettitte told Sherman he doesn't remember Lance, nor does anyone he asked in his family, per Sports Illustrated's Delilah Bourque.
The elder Dobbins played independent baseball in 1996 and '97, according to Baseball Reference.
Hunter's Texas Tech bio mentions his father played baseball at Alabama and in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.