Jack Lopez's long road to the major leagues included winning a silver medal with Team USA baseball at the Tokyo Olympics earlier this summer.
The 28-year-old rookie had another moment he'll never forget in Friday night's Boston Red Sox game against the Cleveland Indians, picking up his first major league hit on a double in the bottom of the second inning at Fenway Park.
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Lopez, thrust into the lineup in part due to the Red Sox ongoing issues with COVID-19, was originally a 16th-round draft pick of the Kansas City Royals in 2011. He never made it to the big leagues with the Royals, nor with the Atlanta Braves, whom he signed with as a free agent in 2019.
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Lopez, who was born in Puerto Rico, signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox in January and split time this summer between Triple-A Worcester and Double-A Portland before finally earning a call-up on Sept. 1. He'd been hitless in the first seven at-bats of his career before his hit Friday.