About Liam Hendriks

Liam Johnson Hendriks (born 10 February 1989) is an Australian professional baseball relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox. He has been an All-Star three times (2019, 2021 and 2022) and was the American League's Reliever of the Year in 2020 and 2021. His most recent accomplishment is winning the AL MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award for the 2023 season.

Background
Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, Hendriks began playing tee-ball when he was five (rather than the traditional Australian summer game of cricket), before transitioning to baseball at the age of ten. He also played Australian rules football. Hendriks continued playing both baseball and football through high school at Sacred Heart College, Sorrento.

Hendriks's paternal grandparents emigrated to Australia from the Netherlands. His father, Geoff Hendriks, played over 150 games of senior football for the West Perth Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). Under the father–son rule used by the Australian Football League (AFL) at the time, Liam was eligible to be drafted by the West Coast Eagles had he decided to pursue a career in football. However, he decided to pursue baseball and was signed by the Minnesota Twins on his eighteenth birthday.

In 2017 and 2019, Hendriks was the Oakland Athletics' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award after his work with Big League Impact and Striking Out Poverty in their efforts to end poverty in the Dominican Republic.

Hendriks was the Chicago White Sox Roberto Clemente nominee in 2021, 2022, and 2023, making him a five-time nominee.