There was major applause for Boston's hometown boy Casey Affleck on Tuesday night, who threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park as part of the Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon.
Affleck, the brother of Ben Affleck, recently made Bostonians laugh with his parody of a "real" Dunkin' Donuts fan on Saturday Night Live, and also won an Academy Award for his role in "Manchester By The Sea."
"I got pretty lucky last year, did a good movie, and had a bunch of accolades, but this is definitely a much bigger honor. Throwing out the first pitch at the Red Sox game is a big deal," said Affleck.
He also credits the director of the movie.
"I think the Oscars are a giant, big deal for about 72 hours, then people can't remember who won that year and that's just the way it goes, but it is an honor to be included in the Academy," Affleck said.
Affleck, who grew up in Cambridge, says he comes home often in the summer. His mom also still lives there.
"We come back in the summer, take the kids back here, they think this is a vacation. When I was a kid, we'd try to leave Boston and go out to the Cape or somewhere not as hot and sticky, but my kids think coming to Boston is the best vacation in the world."
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As for his next big project?
"Well I got a movie coming out called "The Old Man and the Gun, with Robert Redford, and that was an amazing experience," he said.
The event is part of "Jimmy Fund Month" at Fenway Park, which celebrates the Red Sox and the Jimmy Fund's historic partnership of 64 years.
By evening Tuesday, the Jimmy Fund radio telethon had raised well over one million dollars to support adult and pediatric cancer care and research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
