Major League Baseball Umpires Alex Tosi and Ryan Blakney – along with Baxter from the Arizona Diamondbacks – deliver plenty of joy to children at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Spring Training is usually known as the laid-back part of the season, but at UMPS CARE Charities, it turned out to be very busy.
Major League Baseball Umpires took time out throughout the month of March to give back to communities in Arizona and in Florida.
UMPS CARE Charities opened the season with a visit at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where Major League Baseball Umpires Alex Tosi, Malachi Moore and Ryan Blakney delivered comfort to more than 100 young patients undergoing medical treatment. Joining them at this visit was Baxter, the mascot of the Arizona Diamondbacks, UMPS CARE board member James Bowman, Adam Dowdy of Umpire Focus and volunteers Jorge Aguirre and Anna Brice. The event was sponsored through the generosity of CARTA Global Logistics.
Click HERE to check out the PHOTO GALLERY from this event! Thanks Arianna Grainey for capturing all of these special moments.
(L to R) Volunteer Anna Brice, MLB Umpires Alex Tosi and Ryan Blakney, UMPS CARE Treasurer James Bowman, MLB Umpire Malachi Moore, Adam Dowdy of Umpire Focus and volunteer Jorge Aguirre.
Below Malachi Moore plays video game with a young patient during an UMPS CARE Charities visit at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
This visit was followed up by MLB Umpires (below L to R) DJ Reyburn, Brennan Miller and Mark Wegner who delivered Build-A-Bear® joy to children at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in Tampa, Florida.
Click HERE to check out the PHOTO GALLERY from this event. Thanks L.B. Blanchard for the great photos!
In addition to making the rounds at area hospitals, umpires participated in special Spring Training meet and greets with our partners from the Wounded Warrior Umpire Academy, Protect The Game (non-profits organizations that support and train veterans to become umpires and sports officials) and Little League.
Our first visit was with a group from the NorthEast Little League which had lost all of its baseball equipment, including umpire gear, during the hurricanes last year. MLB Umpire Chris Conroy generously shipped equipment to the Little League, and MLB Umpire Mark Carlson (below, right) took time out to meet with members of the Little League before a Spring Training game in Dunedin, Florida. Special shout out to the Toronto Blue Jays for proving tickets to this crew!
The next visit took place in West Palm Beach, Florida, where we invited John Crosser, of the Wounded Warrior Umpire Academy and two pairs of father-son umpires to meet Major League Baseball Umpire Ron Kulpa. Ron (below, center) shared stories about his journey to the big leagues, advice for the young umpires and even some photos of his new puppy, Stanley. Thanks to the Houston Astros for the tickets for this group!
Out West, UMPS CARE invited a group of participants from Protect The Game, which was hosting an umpiring clinic in Arizona, to meet with umpires Alfonso Marquez, John Bacon and Steven Jaschinski before a game. The Los Angeles Angels partnered with us to provide tickets for this group.
The Major League Baseball Umpires were not the only ones giving back this spring. Once again, UMPS CARE Charities partnered with the Association of Minor League Umpires (AMLU) to host charity bowling tournaments in Florida and Arizona to support our programs. Minor League Umpires preparing for rookie ball all the way to Triple-A turned out in Jupiter and Bradenton, Florida, and in Tempe, Arizona, to raise funds. Throughout the season, UMPS CARE will host meet and greets with various youth-based organizations and military families in all 30 Triple-A markets and about 10 Class AA markets. We are beyond grateful for the support of the minor league umpires and call-up umpires.
Huge shout out to our awesome volunteers and staff members for getting things rolling at our annual charity bowling tournament with minor league Spring Training crews in Tempe, Arizona!
The New York Mets Spring Training Crew of Dereck Pacheco, Rainiero Valero Bolivar, Jaylen Goodman, Frank Jones, DeAndre Cooper and Ryan Smith represented at the annual AMLU bowling tournament in Jupiter, Florida!