Straily giving back with strikeouts
Marlins righty raising money with every K
Dan Straily wanted to give back, but he didn’t know how.
The Miami Marlins righthander and his wife, Amanda, sat together on a Sunday night during spring training and discussed potential charities. That February, Straily signed the largest contract of his career, a oneyear deal worth $3.375 million, and the couple felt financially stable enough to explore charitable options.
During that same discussion, Straily got a text. It was from Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, a friend of Straily’s and a partner of a non-profit foundation called Big League Impact, which helps athletes give back.
The text was an invitation to a Big League Impact presentation to help baseball players set up their own charitable campaigns.
Now Straily’s all in. He’s teamed up with Big League Impact and Food for the Hungry — a charity that provides food, water and more to communities in need — in a campaign called Striking Out Poverty. For every strikeout Straily throws this season, he’ll donate $40 to a small community in the Dominican Republic called El Cercadillo to
help provide food, water and a new baseball field. Additionally, fans can join in and pledge money for each strikeout.
Currently $89.67 is donated for every strikeout Straily throws. Through Sunday, he had 38 strikeouts. And it all started with a timely text.
“It was almost like we were trying to find a way where we could fit in,” Straily said. “It’s a huge challenge to set up your own foundation, and Adam has a whole team of people that are doing it”
When Straily went to the Big League Impact presentation, there were many options. Food for the Hungry has field offices in the communities they help all around the world.
All of the communities presented to Straily needed help.
It wasn’t until a representative of the charity talked to Straily that he was able to decide on El Cercadillo.
“I was like, ‘How do I pick?’ I think there was like 16 baseball fields, and it was like, ‘How do I pick which one?’ ” Straily said. “[The representative] is the guy who puts this all together, and he was like, ‘This one right here, [El Cercadillo]. They could all use it, but these guys could really use it.’ And as much as it’s about the baseball field, it’s much more about the community, the food, the water, simple things like getting running water to each person’s home.”
From there, the donations began. Straily pledged $6,000 to build the baseball field. Wainwright matched that, and then $2,500 was donated through the player’s union.
This willingness to give is something Straily believes everybody has in their character. In fact, for him, the problem wasn’t giving. The problem came with advertising his charity.
“It’s kind of weird, it was a big step for me to go out in the public eye, if you will, and be like, ‘Hey, look at us, we’re donating this,’ because I don’t want the perception to be that,” Straily said. “And at first, I really asked them if I could just give my money to donate this baseball field, and then I didn’t want it to be a public thing. I didn’t want anyone to know about it. And they were like, ‘Hey, we really want you to get over that and make a bigger impact on people’s lives. You can just give this money, and you can just build this baseball field, or you can let people know you’re doing it, let them jump on board, and you can make food, water and a baseball field for this whole community.’ ”
And that leap is an important one for the 910 residents of El Cercadillo. For them, the water and the food mean healthier lives, and the baseball field means a happier one.
“One of the hardest parts of extreme poverty is the feeling of hopelessness,” said Milam Byers, the Director of Sports Partnerships for Food for the Hungry, “and so baseball is that thing that we all love, and it brings a smile to the faces of not only the kids that are playing on that field or in that place, but their parents and their grandparents. And to be honest, the game really provides not only a central, communal place for that area, but you know, you kind of forget about all the other problems in your life when you’re out having fun and playing the game.”
“Talk to any of the guys you play with from [the Dominican Republic], like, baseball’s not just a game.” Straily added. “… It’s an escape. It’s a way of life. It’s a way for them to better their lives.”
Straily is trying to make that escape possible for El Cercadillo. He’s trying to improve their lives with necessities and the game of baseball.
And with each strikeout, he comes closer to making that a reality.