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San Francisco Giants Part of Will Ferrell’s Charity Tour

By Sean Bialaszek

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Throughout his acting career, Will Ferrell has played a NASCAR driver as Ricky Bobby, a basketball player-owner as Jackie Moon, a little league soccer coach in Kicking and Screaming, and even a bad boy figure skater as Chazz Michael Michaels. On Thursday, the world-renowned funny man took his “athletic” career to the next level, as he became a professional baseball player, even if just for a day.

Ferrell played in five Cactus League games, for 10 different teams, including the San Francisco Giants, and played all 10 positions, including designated hitter. The tour of Arizona was done in an effort to raise money in the fight against cancer. Ferrell has long been involved in the effort to fight cancer, as well as help survivors, including a campaign to raise scholarships for those who have beaten cancer.

In Thursday’s 7-4 win against the Chicago White Sox, the Giants allowed Ferrell to don the catcher’s gear. This came immediately after the comedian was “traded” from the Sox, following an at-bat where he struck out against Jean Machi. In the plate appearance, Ferrell actually did make contact, albeit a slow dribbler foul up the first baseline.

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In Ferrell’s short stint wearing orange and black, he caught one batter, also from Machi, although an intentional walk was called. He was removed following the at-bat, and made his way to his fifth, and final game on the tour.

In the first game of Ferrell’s long day on the diamond, he found himself in the Oakland Athletics‘ starting lineup, batting fifth and playing shortstop. While he didn’t get a chance at the plate, he did play the entire top half of the first in the field, and luckily, no balls were hit his way. Afterwards, he moved to the other dugout, and played second base for the Seattle Mariners, but again, got no fielding chances.

After the first game, he moved on to the Chicago Cubs-Los Angeles Angels game, where he replaced reigning American League MVP Mike Trout in center field. While there, he got his first shot at action, as Wellington Castillo lined a single up the middle. Ferrell fielded it cleanly, and made a clean throw in to his cutoff man.

He changed sides again shortly after, and spent some time as the third base coach for the Cubbies. He flashed some funny signs as coach, including “Don’t Pull a Muscle”, “Take a Pitch”, and “Remember, These Games Don’t Count”. He was put into the game, and received his first at-bat, striking out on three pitches. He played an out at first base, and jokingly threw his glove down in anger when Mike Olt came out to replace him.

The Arizona Diamondbacks saw this as a good opportunity to give the journeyman a shot, and they completed a blockbuster trade to acquire Ferrell.

Ferrell played in left field with Arizona, and had a rough go of it. A triple and double were hit his way, and the team traded away Ferrell, this time to the Cincinnati Reds. Ferrell was seen in the Cincinnati dugout wearing a Santa Clause-esque beard, trying to do his best Bobby Valentine impression, and be covert in the dugout. He would take the field as the Reds’ third baseman before moving onto the White Sox-Giants’ game.

After playing catcher, Ferrell went to the Giants’ archrival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he took the mound. He threw one pitch, a fastball/curveball/changeup hybrid that zoomed in at 55 miles an hour, and recorded an out as he fielded a bunt cleanly and made a nice throw to first base (Vine courtesy of Xfinity Sports).

His day concluded with a short appearance in right field for the San Diego Padres.

Ferrell is no stranger to sports, as he was captain of his high school basketball team, and hit .390 in his senior year on the diamond, but that all came about 30 years ago for the 47-year-old actor. He also had a short stint in 2010 for the Triple-A Round Rock Express as “Rojo Johnson”, but threw one pitch before being ejected.

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All of this was done by Ferrell in an effort to raise money for a couple of charities that Ferrell is passionate about. Each of his game-worn uniforms, as well as some other gear he wore throughout the day, will be auctioned off, with the proceeds benefiting Stand Up To Cancer, and Cancer for College, a charity that raises scholarship money for cancer survivors.

His exploits were documented by a film crew, and will be aired as part of an HBO special that will also attempt to raise funds for those charities, as well as honor Bert Campaneris, the first professional player to play all nine positions in a single game.

No matter what you think of Ferrell’s movies, or this “publicity stunt”, the intent is more than admirable. When celebrities use their status in order to help others who aren’t as fortunate as them, it’s a great gesture. Ferrell’s baseball career may be over, but the effect that this one, single day had on those cancer patients and survivors will be felt for a long time to come.

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