Royals ace Danny Duffy doubles down on charity work
Danny Duffy is a man of the people.
Last season, for every strikeout that he threw, Royals pitcher Duffy donated $500 to Noah’s Bandage Project, a charity that benefits the fight against pediatric cancer. This year, he will double that pledge to $1,000 per strikeout.
“It made a big impact last year, and it was so cool,” Duffy said. “The community rallied around it, and we just decided to kind of go a little bit more.”
The Project was founded by Noah Wilson and his family when Noah noticed that all of the bandages he received from the hospital were brown and boring. Because of this, Noah decided he wanted to collect and distribute colorful bandages to other young kids who were going through cancer treatments.
Noah was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer, when he was only 6 years old. A little over a year later, in June 2015, Noah passed away after contracting acute myeloid leukemia (AML) due to the chemotherapy drugs he was on.
That didn’t stop him from inspiring one of his favorite players on his favorite team.
“He was smiling in the clubhouse when he was going through the worst of his time, and it was very inspiring to see him carrying himself the way he was and with the kind of happiness that he had going through what he was going through at the time,” Duffy said.
So why does the charity mean so much to Duffy? Duffy met Noah at Kauffman Stadium a few years ago, and they hit it off immediately.
“Just with meeting Noah and seeing how on fire for that cause he was,” Duffy said. “He really sparked me to open up, and I think that’s kind of my calling, is helping kids with that and trying to find a cure.”
Minor-league catcher Parker Morin thinks there could be another reason Duffy is so involved in Noah’s Bandage Project.
“Just the little bit I’ve been around him, you can tell he really cares about everybody that he comes in contact with,” Morin said of Duffy.
After raising more than $93,000 last year, Duffy hopes to triple that amount this season through his higher pledge, more strikeouts and more help from fan donations. In addition to Duffy’s strikeout pledge, fans who donate $2 per strikeout will receive a Danny Duffy autographed baseball.
Royals manager Ned Yost took a humorous approach when asked how many strikeouts he wants out of Duffy this year.
“Seven or eight thousand,” Yost said. “That’s my hope. I don’t know if he’ll reach it.”
After striking out 130 batters last season, it appears that Duffy might fall a little short of Yost’s expectations. Although, even with his increased pledge this season, Duffy will not feel any pressure to strike out batters more than usual.
“It’s hard enough as it is, man,” Duffy said. “It’s hard enough as it is. I just try to focus on the glove and do what I can to get quick outs and sometimes (recording strikeouts) just happens.”
During the World Series run three years ago, Duffy decided on very unique attire that is still benefiting Noah’s Bandage Project. After clinching the American League Central in 2015, Duffy sported a bear suit inside the clubhouse and famously told Fox Sports Kansas City’s Joel Goldberg, “It’s a bear suit, Joel.” That phrase has been made into t-shirts, with sales going directly to pediatric cancer research.
“It’s one of the most random things of all time,” Duffy said. “I’m a pretty random guy but that one took the cake.”
As long as Duffy is pitching in the majors , there will be donations made to help children going through cancer treatments. Ever since meeting Noah, he has been heavily dedicated to the cause and has made great use of his star-player platform. Even though there might not be a happy ending to every story, Duffy has not let that discourage his philanthropic attitude.
“I’ve had to say goodbye to a couple of young soldiers, but those families are amazing,” Duffy said. “They carry on the legacy of their kids, and it’s been a very interesting experience. I’ve gotten to meet a lot of really cool people.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2018 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Royals ace Danny Duffy doubles down on charity work."