Red Sox rookie Payton Tolle has made a habit of generating some viral moments on the mound this season given his fun-loving nature, but the most viral one yet came Monday night when he scooped up a grounder down the first-base line and decided to just hug Mariners outfielder Dominic Canzone for the out.
"The hug was on the stinkin' Today Show," Tolle noted Wednesday afternoon during an appearance on WEEI's Jones & Keefe (listen to the full interview above).
While it may have been a first during Tolle's big-league career, it wasn't the first time Tolle has hugged someone from an opposing team. In fact, the 23-year-old revealed that he actually made a habit of hugging opposing coaches after his high school basketball games.
"The hug thing, I can go back to high school," Tolle said. "I used to hug the opposing coach in high school basketball whenever we would do the high-five lines. So, that took me back to that. High-five your teammates, high-five the opposing coach. I was like, 'No, I'm gonna make this uncomfortable. I'm gonna give him a nice hug.'
Red Sox pitcher Payton Tolle joins the show and reveals that he used to HUG opposing coaches when he played in high school 😂 pic.twitter.com/s3xvQCmdNM
— WEEI (@WEEI) September 2, 2026
"Most guys started to embrace it," Tolle continued, "but there were some that were like, 'No, no, no.' And I'm like, 'I'm getting a hug here, man. I'm not running away from you until I get this.'"
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said pregame Wednesday that stuff like Monday's hug is just who Tolle is.
"He's awesome," Tracy said. "He's obviously a great competitor, but he does it in a different way. He's been through so much in his own life that he just truly plays the game, when he's pitching and you watch him, like this guy enjoys what he's doing. Like he has a full joy in going out there and competing, regardless of how it turns out. And he carries that same personality even when he's not pitching. He just lifts people up around him, always smiling. Like, when he comes out to the dugout when he's not pitching, it's one of the most exciting guys to see him come through and do all the handshakes. The best way I can describe it is, there are certain people that have an innate ability to just lift people around them just by seeing them. That's who he is."
The personal hardship that Tracy referenced would be the death of Tolle's mother, Jina, who passed away in May 2024 at age 48 after battling colon cancer.
That has inspired Tolle to get involved with Empower, which supports children and young adults through age 24 who have lost a parent. Tolle and his wife, Devin, will be hosting The Tigger Tournament to support Empower next Thursday, Sept. 10, at Topgolf Boston in Canton. Click here for more information.
