The franchise reaches the $50 million mark in charitable giving.

CEO Hall says team is ‘just getting going’ with giving

With Wednesday night’s annual Evening on the Diamond fundraising event, the Diamondbacks were expected to surpass the $50 million mark in charitable giving in franchise history.

“We give back more than all of the other local sports teams combined,” Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall said. “It’s incredible that we’re at $50 million. And we’re just getting going. We’ll have so much momentum we’re going to get to $100 million a lot quicker than we got to $50 million.”

Hall said the organization raises roughly $5 million a year for charitable causes, with a large chunk of that – likely more than $1.5 million – generated at Evening on the Diamond, a Westernthemed event that includes dinner along with live and silent auctions.

Hall credited the team’s community affairs staff, which he called the best in professional sports, for their fundraising efforts, and the generosity of the team’s corporate partners, the club’s ownership group and the local community as a whole.

He recalled an anecdote from his first year as club president, in 2007, when the Diamondbacks made a run to the postseason and surpassed their internal revenue projections, prompting a call from Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick.

“I said, ‘We’re beyond our projections,’” Hall said. “(Kendrick) said, ‘OK, what else can we do for the community?’ That was the first thing he asked.”

The club wound up donating $5 per ticket sold the rest of the season to children’s charities.

“It’s the way we want to think,” Hall said. “It’s how we should think. We’re lucky that we have ownership that doesn’t put money in their pocket. They either put money onto the field, into the stadium or into the community.”

The Diamondbacks’ youth baseball field program, in which they build or renovate fields in the community, will unveil its 39th field next month; they have a jersey donation program that has helped keep some youth leagues alive; and they have a charity golf tournament and a 5K benefiting cancer research, among other projects.

Thursday's game

The Diamondbacks play the first of a Chase Field back-to-back against the Cleveland Indians. Arizona sends righthander Taijuan Walker against Indians right-hander Josh Tomlin.

Game time is 6:40 p.m.

Short hop

Left-hander Patrick Corbin, who is lined up to pitch the second game of the season on Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants, looked sharp in a minor league game on Wednesday, his final outing of spring training.

Corbin gave up three runs (two earned) in six innings, walking none and striking out six.

Of the six hits he allowed, three were hit hard, including a two-run homer by Roberto Baldoquin.

Corbin was perhaps the most consistent of the Diamondbacks’ starters throughout spring training. He posted a 3.44 ERA in his Cactus League outings, with three walks and 17 strikeouts in 181⁄3 innings.