Lenny DiNardo threw only 27 innings for the Red Sox in 2004, but the lanky lefty nonetheless was one of the self-proclaimed idiots who won the World Series that year.
DiNardo, who received a World Series ring for his efforts to reverse the curse in ’04, was back with the Bosox in ’05 and ’06, but he spent much of that time on the DL before being claimed off waivers by the Oakland Athletics and later picked up by the Kansas City Royals.
Now 37 and married with three kids, DiNardo has been out of baseball for a few years, but he’s got a new gig. DiNardo has joined Edge Realty, located in Edgewood, R.I., as a real-estate agent: He’s closing sales, not games now.
On Sunday, DiNardo’s first official day on the job, he showed a young couple four houses.
“As you can imagine, showing houses to a young couple is a little bit different than pitching at Fenway Park,” DiNardo told us Monday. “But I feel like I’ve moved so many times, I can really appreciate how it works from the perspective of the agent. Between me and my wife, we’ve probably moved seven times, so we’ve had plenty of practice.”
DiNardo said the job also appeals to him because it allows him to spend a lot of time with his children, whose ages range from 6 months to 4 years.
“It wasn’t easy to retire from baseball, but what made it a little better was being able to spend as much time as possible with the kids,” he said. “Reading, bath time, changing diapers, I want to do all of it. I love it.”
In addition to being a former Major Leaguer, DiNardo is a talented guitar player, and used to perform with Peter Gammons and Theo Epstein at the annual Hot Stove Cool Music fund-raiser. On Instagram, he frequently posts clips of himself playing songs by his favorite artists, including Townes Van Zandt, Johnny Marr, and John Fahey. He said he doesn’t play in a band at the moment, but still plays. Here’s DiNardo paying tribute to Jimmy Page on “Going to California.”