On Players’ Weekend, Royals’ Drew Butera honors kids from local hospital

Nicknames on the back of jerseys. Specialized bats and shoes. A different look for the uniforms.

Major League Baseball’s second annual Players’ Weekend is a time to express individuality. But Royals catcher Drew Butera is using it to recognize other people.

On the back of his jersey is the name Vito.

“It’s a way to honor my grandpa, my dad’s dad,” Butera said. “He was the rock of our family, I believe. He had five kids and worked his tail off to provide for them. He has a boatload of grandkids, and he made each one of us feel special in our own way. I thought it was a cool way to honor him and how he always supported us.”

A patch on the right sleeve of each player’s uniform has a spot to write the name of someone who helped them get where they are today.

Butera wrote “mom and dad” on one uniform. A second one has the name Jeff Higuera, who was his trainer.

The most unique item of all? Butera’s cleats. There are 80 signatures from kids.

Butera visited a local hospital during the last homestand and got the kids to sign shoes. He left his shoes for more kids to sign.

“It was cool just to talk with everybody and hear their stories and a lot of them were on their way out of the hospital, so that was really cool,” Butera said.

You can hear Butera talk more about the shoes in the video above.

This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 6:17 PM.