This Father’s Day, it’s all relative for 21-year-old Andrew Benintendi. He won’t just shout out to his dad, but to his whole extended Ohio clan.
It has not been easy for Andrew Benintendi since his promotion to the Portland Sea Dogs a month ago. The celebrated Boston Red Sox prospect was batting just .261 after Saturday’s game.
But good day or bad, his postgame routine remains the same.
Benintendi will amble across the Sea Dogs clubhouse, sit down facing his locker and, with head down, check his phone.
“After every game, I get texts from my uncles, and my parents,” he said. “Even right now, I’m struggling, but they’re always encouraging me. It’s nice to have that.”
Along with the texts will be a phone call – Dad checking in.
“They talk almost every day,” said Benintendi’s mom, Jill Benintendi. “Andrew and I are very close, but those two. …
“What Chris and Andrew have is really, really special.”
Chris Benintendi will receive Father’s Day wishes on Sunday. So will his dad, Robert Benintendi, and Jill’s father, Donald Brookbank.
Andrew Benintendi will reach out to them as surely as he reaches for a sinking fly ball he has run down in center field.
To understand Andrew Benintendi, one of the top outfield prospects in baseball, is to know his roots – in small, rural Ohio towns – and the extended family that sustains him.
Benintendi, 21, is generously listed in the Red Sox media guide as 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds. But he can surprisingly hit for power. That pop comes from a beautifully effortless swing.
As for the strength that makes Benintendi an athlete who can both withstand failure and handle success, he knows that source reaches back to a crowd of grandparents, sisters, aunts and uncles, countless cousins, mom and dad.
“No doubt,” Benintendi said.
Benintendi is articulate, but he speaks as little as possible. His eyes light up when his family is mentioned. He will easily tell you how brilliant one grandfather is, or of spending time with the other boating on the Ohio River. But extracting words about himself – and his ability – is a challenge.
“He’s not the most outgoing guy, but he has a big circle of family that he is very comfortable with,” Chris said.
“He doesn’t want to walk in and act like he knows everything,” Jill said. “He keeps his mouth shut.”
When Benintendi first arrived at Hadlock Field on May 16, two observations stuck out. One was the obvious importance of family, and the other was his discomfort with media attention.
That latter could be a red flag for a rising prospect in the Boston system. Even though Benintendi was only drafted last year, most Red Sox fans already know his name and the media spotlight will only get brighter.
On his first day at Hadlock, Benintendi wanted to limit the number of interviews. And when a television camera entered the Sea Dogs clubhouse after his first game, he immediately requested the interview take place outside, deflecting the attention with his teammates around.
“Chris taught him to be humble and kind,” Jill said. “Chris (an attorney in Cincinnati) is really successful, but you would not know it. He’s just a nice guy.
“Andrew is the same way. He’s just a quiet kid.”
After Andrew was drafted by Boston, Jill purchased a small Red Sox sticker for her car.
“Andrew saw it,” she remembered, “and he said: ‘Take that off. I haven’t made it yet.'”
Benintendi, Boston’s first-round draft pick in 2015, made it to the Double-A level faster than any Boston prospect since Dustin Pedroia in 2005. He smiled at the fact, but shrugged. The accolade would not cause his head to swell.
“That’s how I was raised,” he said. “I was raised from a big family. I’m the oldest, on my dad’s side, of 18 grandkids. I try to set a good example for them, try to stay grounded and humble.”
Andrew Benintendi, 21, poses with his dad, Chris, and the younger of two sisters, 12-year-old Lilly. “He’s not the most outgoing guy,” Chris says of his son, “but he has a big circle of family that he is very comfortable with.” Courtesy of Jill Benintendi
‘FAMILY ALWAYS CAME FIRST’
Chris grew up in Georgetown, Ohio, the second of six children of Robert and Sally Benintendi. While they lived on a farm, Chris’ father was Dr. Benintendi, an OB-GYN.
Jill was one of five children of Donald and Doris Brookbank, in neighboring Higginsport, on a farm next to the Ohio River.
“We were both raised the same way, by wonderful parents,” Chris said.
“Family always came first,” Jill said.
Both played sports, Jill posting up for her high school basketball team, Chris playing third base for Georgetown High (and later at Wittenberg University).
“My mom was actually the better athlete,” Andrew said. “She was a force down low.”
An aunt, Kelly Benintendi, would go on to play college basketball at Xavier.
Andrew is the oldest of three in his family, along with sisters Olivia, 20, and Lilly, 12.
The daughters showed little interest in sports, but Andrew loved them. He dabbled in soccer and golf, and thrived in basketball and baseball. Dad, of course, was with him every step, from buying him his first plastic bat as a toddler, to throwing him his first batting practices.
“He’d throw me tennis balls,” Andrew said.
One thing became obvious to Dad during those batting practices: the swing.
“He’s just had that same swing since he was 5,” Chris said. “To this day, he’s never had a hitting lesson.”
The family settled into Cincinnati with Andrew attending local Madeira High School. It did not take long for Andrew to be shining on the basketball court and the baseball field. With all of his extended family living close by, Andrew’s sports events became family reunions, with up to 30 relatives watching.
“When I played basketball, there was a whole section for just my family,” Andrew said. “It was crazy.”
Benintendi played four years of basketball and ended up with several school records, including total points (1,753).
But baseball was his sport. That became evident in high school and with a competitive summer league team. Slated to play on the under-16 team, Benintendi was asked to fill in temporarily on the under-18 team – but he never moved back down, leading off and playing center field. His team won a national championship. College scholarship offers began arriving.
Benintendi chose the University of Arkansas. A friend from his summer team went there and Benintendi loved the campus when he visited.
Chris and Jill saw Andrew play in Fayetteville, or watched home games on the internet.
“Chris will be watching and he knows what Andrew is thinking at the plate,” Jill said. “They always talk about the strategy. Ever since Andrew was a little boy, they talked about strategy and knowing the game.”
ACCOLADES IN ‘GARAGE MAHAL’
An Arkansas banner hangs in the garage of Chris’ younger brother, Brian. Named the “Garage Mahal,” the garage has become a showcase of Benintendi family achievements – awards, as well as colleges being attended by nieces and nephews. Honors for academics rank high.
“Grades came first,” Jill said, adding a touch of discipline that any teacher would appreciate. “We’ve always told them, ‘You get in trouble at school, then you are in trouble at home.’ “
Andrew Benintendi stayed out of trouble and achieved. When he moved on in his baseball career, first with Arkansas and then in the pros, the Garage Mahal became a gathering point for Chris and his brothers to watch games on the internet.
There were family visits to Red Sox minor-league stops in Lowell, Greenville and Salem. Chris and Jill were in Portland for the first time earlier this month.
“It’s good to hang with them,” Andrew said.
They saw Andrew hit his first Double-A home run at Hadlock Field.
Benintendi’s time in Portland began slowly, but he was 14-for-37 with three home runs in his last nine games heading into Sunday’s contest in Richmond, Virginia.
Andrew’s parents and other relatives will likely return to Portland this summer. But the extended family is looking forward to the Sea Dogs’ series in Akron, Ohio, on Aug. 12-14.
“We have about 20 rooms booked,” Jill said.
The dream trip, obviously, would be to Boston, should Benintendi eventually play for the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
“Of course, we don’t count our chickens before they’re hatched – but I think about it,” Chris said. “If it happens, we would make it a priority to get my parents there and Jill’s parents there.
“Andrew is very close to his grandparents.”
In New England, Andrew Benintendi is known as a Red Sox prospect, albeit a very good one. Fans hear about an outfielder and speculate about a future in Boston, or a trade for a needed pitcher. It is a one-dimensional view.
In a wonderfully close-knit clan back in Greater Cincinnati, Andrew Benintendi is known as a gifted athlete, but also as a respectful cousin, a playful nephew, a devoted grandson, a loving brother and a grateful son. No matter what superlatives await in his baseball career, Andrew Benintendi knows where he came from.
“I’m very thankful,” he said.
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