Red Sox left-hander Rich Hill lost his father, Lloyd Hill Sr., at the age of 94 on Friday.
Shortly before his father’s passing, Hill left the Red Sox while they were in Detroit this past Wednesday in order to spend more time with his family. Despite the loss, the 42-year-old will still make his next start as scheduled against the Twins at Fenway Park on Monday.
“He’s in a good place,” Cora said in regards to Hill on Sunday. “Obviously, you know, thoughts and prayers with his family. It’s tough, but he’s in a good place. He’s going to go out there and pitch. I know it means a lot to him, his family, and to us.”
It is quite fitting that Hill will be making his first home start of the season on Marathon Monday, as his late father ran in 37 Boston Marathons.
“I can’t describe how kind he was towards everybody and the way he treated everyone. But also running 37 Boston Marathons was an amazing feat,” Hill told WBZ-TV’s Dan Roche. “We just found that out the other day. I always thought it was in the 20s and then I asked him. And he said, ‘No, we started in 1958.'”
Lloyd Hill Sr., a native of Milton, Mass., was a captain and All-American tackle for the Brown University football team. He was a veteran of the Korean War who later coached and served as a high school principal in Quincy.
Rich Hill, who went 4 1/3 innings against the Tigers in his first start back with the Red Sox last Tuesday, will be thinking of his father when he takes the mound at Fenway on Monday morning.
“There’s going to be a lot of emotion tomorrow, but at the same time, there’s a job that has to be done,” Hill said to Roche. “I know that the task at hand is extremely important. And for my dad, that’s how he would appreciate and what he would want.”
(Picture of Rich Hill: Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
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