Red Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi has been named the Jimmy Fund captain for the 2021 season, the organization announced Tuesday.
Eovaldi, who has spent the last 2 1/2 seasons with the Red Sox, will become Jimmy Fund Captain for the first time.
The 31-year-old hurler takes over for former Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland, who was traded to the Padres last August before signing a one-year deal with the Athletics in February.
As Jimmy Fund Captain, “Eovaldi will help encourage fans to step up to the plate and help strike out cancer by getting involved with the Jimmy Fund.”
His responsibilities include: attending fundraising events, visiting patients, and acting as an ambassador for Dana-Farber’s research and care mission.
Boston’s previous two Jimmy Fund Captains — Moreland and Brock Holt — were nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award on at least one occasion in their time with the Sox.
The partnership between the Jimmy Fund and the Red Sox dates back to 1953 when team owner Tom Yawkey “announced that his team would adopt the Jimmy Fund as its official charity and continue the tradition started by the Braves” after the then-Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee.
Since that time, the Sox’ relationship with the Jimmy Fund grew to a point where an annual radio-telethon has been held each year at Fenway Park since 2002.
The annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon unfortunately had to be cancelled last summer due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the event has still raised more than $57 million to support pediatric and adult cancer care and research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute since its inception.
For more information about the Jimmy Fund, click here.
For more information about the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, click here.
(Picture of Nathan Eovaldi: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
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