‘It’s personal to me’
Death of former Cox High teammate inspires Dodgers’ Taylor to host charity concert
When Chris Taylor was a student at Cox High in Virginia Beach, he’d check the New York Mets’ box score every night to see how his favorite player had done.
These days, Taylor, now a versatile Los Angeles Dodgers player, is following David Wright in another way.
But Taylor has his own reasons for doing it.
Taylor has helped organize and will serve as co-host of a virtual concert starring a variety of top country acts beginning at 8 p.m. tonight. An accompanying virtual silent auction offers fans the chance to own some unique items or have once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
All proceeds from the event will go to Roc Solid Foundation, a Chesapeake-based nonprofit that helps families of children diagnosed with cancer nationwide, and Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters.
The one-night-only concert, called “Home Run for Hope,” will
feature intimate performances by Brad Paisley, Jake Owen, Scotty McCreery, Shy Carter, Tiera, Alexander Ludwig and D. Vincent Williams, plus a number of surprise celebrity guests. Tickets can be purchased with a $40 minimum donation at homerunforhope.com.
The event comes after Taylor and his team of more than 20 volunteers have spent long hours booking acts, organizing and rounding up items for an accompanying silent auction. Taylor booked Paisley, a huge Dodgers fan, himself after meeting the three-time Grammy winner through teammates.
“We’re very excited for Friday,” Taylor, 30, said this week from
spring training in Glendale, Arizona, with the defending World Series champion Dodgers. “Hopefully, we can raise a ton of money and make it all worth it.”
The concert comes a year after Wright, a former New York Mets star who was born in Norfolk and grew up in Chesapeake, ended his annual Casino Night event in Virginia Beach benefiting CHKD.
It also comes about a year and a half after Taylor’s close childhood friend and former Cox baseball teammate, Kyle Profilet, died from a form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma.
Taylor befriended a local 12-yearold named Dalton Fox, who is fighting Ewing Sarcoma and dealing with many of the same hardships Profilet endured.
Profilet, who played baseball for Longwood University, was part of a group of five or six close friends who grew up in the same neighborhood, played baseball together and took trips as a tight-knit crew through college.
It’s part of why Taylor was inspired to act.
“Obviously, it’s something I’m very passionate about,” said Taylor, a seven-year major league veteran who played at the University of Virginia. “I think it was important for me and my close friends and Kyle’s close friends to all try to do something to help the cause and hopefully raise some money and help the Roc Solid Foundation and CHKD.
“It’s personal to me.”
Among the items up for auction in tandem with tonight’s concert are jerseys signed by Taylor’s wellknown teammates, like three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts. There are several high-end trips up for grabs as well as memorabilia signed by musicians and stars from other sports.
Celebrities with autographed items in the auction include Kobe Bryant, Muhammad Ali, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Greg Maddux, Brooks Robinson, Ernie Banks, Cal Ripken Jr., Tom Brady, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Taylor Swift, Allen Iverson, Mike Tyson, Tim McGraw, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The auction also includes trips to Costa Rica, Santorini, Cabo San Lucas, Kenya and Tuscany among other destinations as well as experiences like the Masters, the Grammys, the Final Four and celebrity meet-and-greets.
Bidding is live at the event’s website. (Click on the auction link and then the “All Items” button in the upper right.)
A Swiss Army knife who plays multiple positions, Taylor originally planned to hold a fundraising event at an area golf facility. But COVID19 forced him to call an audible.
The pandemic actually made it easier to book the musical acts, since they’re not touring.
Taylor, who will host the concert with Dodgers TV voice Joe Davis, isn’t sure what the event might look like in the future.
Roc Solid Foundation, founded by pediatric cancer survivor Eric Newman, is best known for giving “Ready Bags” to families when their child is first diagnosed as well as providing backyard play sets to kids during treatment.
CHKD is a 206-bed teaching hospital that is the heart of an extensive pediatric health-care system. Every day, dozens of children are admitted to the hospital, and thousands more are cared for at its various centers and clinics throughout Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore and northeast North Carolina.
Wright’s Casino Night event, which ceased last January as his family demands grew, raised more than $1.6 million for CHKD over its 10-year existence.
“(Wright’s) selfless commitment has been an enduring benefit, not just to CHKD, but to the whole community,” CHKD president and CEO Jim Dahling said last year.
Taylor, who credits his financial adviser and his agent with spearheading the execution of tonight’s event, said he’s pleased with how it’s unfolded.
“At first, what seemed to be like a backup plan has turned out to probably be better than an in-person event just because we can reach so many more people virtually than we can at one in-person event,” Taylor said.
“I hope this is something that could be the start of something great.”