The top prospect in baseball, 21-year-old Roman Anthony of the Boston Red Sox, made his long-awaited and highly-anticipated Major League debut on Monday, going hitless in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays — though he did record his first big league RBI on a groundout.
But it was Anthony’s older sister, Lia, who was the talk of the town — and the internet — after she appeared repeatedly on camera watching with Anthony’s family at Fenway Park.
The Anthony clan was not able to attend Monday’s debut for the Red Sox outfield rookie, but they made the trip from their home in West Palm Beach, Florida, for Tuesday’s game — just in time to see Roman Anthony record his first and so far only big league hit.
Lia Anthony, reportedly a couple of years older than Roman at 23, was shown repeatedly on camera by TV broadcasters, clad in a red tube-top often covered by a Red Sox baseball jacket.
Roman Anthony to Experience Yankee Rivalry Friday
Roman Anthony will get his first taste of the Red Sox’ legendary rivalry with the New York Yankees on Friday night, when the American League East division leaders arrive at Fenway Park for a three-game weekend series.
The teams played their first three of 13 games against each other in 2025 last weekend at Yankee Stadium, a series that ended with Boston claiming bragging rights by winning two.
But with left-hander Ryan Yarbrough on the mound for New York, Anthony may not even see the playing field, unless a righty comes in later in the game out of the bullpen. Red Sox manager Alex Cora has stirred some degree on controversy by saying that he will bench Anthony and fellow recent MLB debutante Marcelo Mayer, both left-handed batters, when southpaw pitchers are facing the Red Sox.
Even the heated debate over Anthony’s playing time, however, was forced to take a back seat to the attention unintentionally gained by his older sister, who became an online sensation with her Instagram follower count rising from about 3,000 before her appearance at Fenway to more than 21,000 and counting by Friday morning.
After a day of avoiding the media glare that had been suddenly shone in her direction, Lia Anthony spoke by phone on WEEI Radio in Boston Thursday morning, telling interviewer Greg Hill that the experience of this week has been “crazy,” leaving her and the entire family — including Roman — “shocked.”
“I think he definitely was shocked. We all were,” the recent Florida State graduate said. “We all were kind of in disbelief. But, I mean, he’s got bigger things to focus on. So, he’s just been focusing on his debut and everything. But I think we were all just shocked by it.”
Anthony Family Meets Red Sox Legend
She also said that the trip to see her brother’s second game for the Red Sox marked her first visit to Boston, where she and her family met Red Sox legend David “Big Papi” Ortiz.
“Oh my gosh. The people were amazing,” she told Hill. “It was an incredible experience. This is my first time in Boston, and I had never been to Fenway. … [The Red Sox] brought us to meet David Ortiz. It was just an unreal experience. My mom especially was so touched by it, because David Ortiz had shared a couple words with her, talking about how incredible Roman is and how he’ll be the face of the franchise. And it’s all just so surreal to hear that, especially about your brother, who you’ve grown up watching and supported his whole life. I mean, the whole thing is just surreal.”
Of course, Hill and his co-hosts also asked some of the more salacious questions that their listeners, they assumed, wanted to hear Lia Anthony answer. To the question of whether she has had men she does not know sending her direct messages online this week, she acknowledged there have been “quite a few.”
And to the question of whether she was still single, she answered, “Yes, I am.”
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