Q&A: Opening Week hero Duvall on his longest HRs, more

This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Adam Duvall ended the first series of the 2023 MLB season as one of the hottest hitters in the game, going 8-for-14 with three doubles, a triple, two homers and eight RBIs. His walk-off homer on Saturday was the first game-ending hit in MLB this season. MLB.com caught up with Boston’s red-hot slugger for a wide-ranging Q&A.

MLB.com: Growing up in Kentucky, when do you remember falling in love with baseball?

Duvall: I started playing T-ball and just ate it up. It really consumed my life as a kid. I always tell people that my parents never made me go to lessons or practice. They were just there in case I needed to go home or wanted to throw the ball. But there was never any pressure, which was huge.

MLB.com: In September of 2021, you hit the two longest homers of your career. The first one was in Denver, and it traveled a projected distance of 477 feet. Three weeks later, you hammered one in Phoenix that Statcast had at 483 feet. Both of them landed on the concourse beyond the seats. What does it feel like to hit a ball like that?

Duvall: Those were my best bullets. It feels good when you connect like that. Sometimes you swing hard and you don’t necessarily connect. When you do catch it flush, it almost doesn’t feel like anything. When you hit it on the sweet spot just perfect, you barely feel it.

MLB.com: When you won the World Series with the Braves in 2021, what was that feeling like to reach the top of the mountain?

Duvall: It’s something that you always dream about and something you think about in the offseason and growing up as a kid, all the work that you put in. That’s the reason why you do it. You do it to be the best. To get on the top of the mountain by the end of it. It’s a culmination of everybody working together. From the family moving around with you, the trainers, the staff, the manager and everybody helping you to get there. It’s a feeling like no other.

MLB.com: Now you’re playing in Fenway Park for 81 home games. When you look out at that Monster every day, how exciting is that for a right-handed hitter with your power?

Duvall: It's exciting. It's nostalgic just to play in the stadium itself. But focusing on that green wall, it’s cool. One of my personal strengths is to pull the ball. I see that there and it gives me some assurance that I can either hit the wall or get it over it. That’s pretty cool.

MLB.com: I know you’re diabetic. When did that first come about and how hard is it to manage?

Duvall: Yeah, that was about 10 years ago. I was in High-A and showed up to Spring Training and I was sick and didn't feel well. I was having a lot of symptoms and a lot of problems managing my weight. It was a whirlwind that Spring Training, but I had the staff there to help me out and kind of manage it. It’s still an everyday grind. At 1:30 last night, I was up. I had to go down into the kitchen and get some sugar because my blood sugar was low. You never know when it’s going to hit. You just try to do the best you can with it.

MLB.com: What are your hobbies outside of baseball?

Duvall: Now, it’s my kids. They are three and a half and eight months [old]. In the offseason, my three-and-a-half year old was starting to throw the baseball and hit the baseball. He’s starting to want to get outside and do things, and I just enjoy being around him.

MLB.com: What kind of music do you like?

Duvall: I like country music. Luke Combs, Eric Church, Morgan Wallen, HARDY. I like a lot of country. That’s where I get lost, with country music.