Madeira's Andrew Benintendi makes his GABP debut

Here is a look at where eight major leaguers with Cincinnati-area ties will be opening the 2017 MLB season.The Enquirer/Michael Nyerges

Although Andrew Benintendi couldn’t confirm that his uncle actually bought more than 1,000 tickets in the bleachers for friends and family from Madeira, he didn’t exactly doubt it.

“I don't know anybody who's not coming,” the Red Sox outfielder said before Friday’s game against the Reds.

A 2013 graduate of Madeira High School, Benintendi made his Great American Ball Park debut as the Red Sox came to Cincinnati for a three-game series starting on Friday.

The group in sections 404 and 405 – and pretty much every other section in the park – were certainly heard…