Red Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi has been named the team’s Jimmy Fund captain for a second consecutive year, the organization announced on Monday.
Eovaldi, who is entering his fourth full season with Boston, was originally assigned to the post last March as he took over for Mitch Moreland. He was the Sox’ nominee for the 2021 Roberto Clemente Award in September, which ultimately went to Nelson Cruz.
“I am thrilled to continue serving as this year’s Jimmy Fund Captain as it is a role that I am honored to have. I was fortunate to participate in last year’s WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon and met many families who were so inspirational in telling their cancer journeys,” Eovaldi said in a statement. “I enjoy sharing the important Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber mission and look forward to meeting other adult and pediatric patients and helping to raise awareness and funds for a cause that I, and the entire Red Sox organization, hold so close.”
As Jimmy Fund captain, Eovaldi is responsible for “building awareness and support for the Jimmy Fund’s mission to conquer cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.” The 32-year-old hurler will also attend fundraising events, visit patients, and act as an ambassador “for Dana-Farber’s research and care mission.”
Part of his mission mission is to help “encourage fans to step up to the plate and help strike out cancer by getting involved with the Jimmy Fund.”
The Jimmy Fund, which was first established in Boston in 1948, began its partnership with the Red Sox in 1953 after the Braves relocated to Milwaukee. Shortly thereafter, Sox owner Tom Yawkey announced that “his team would adopt the Jimmy Fund as its official charity and continue the tradition started by the Braves.”
Since then, the relationship between the Red Sox and Jimmy Fund has grown to the point where an annual radio-telethon has been held at Fenway Park each summer (excluding 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic) going back 2002.
After a triumphant return in 2021, the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon has now raised $62 million to support pediatric and adult cancer care and research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute over the last 20 years. It will be back at Fenway Park in August.
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)
Blogging the Red Sox 