LEADING OFF, continued
BY DAN VENTRESCA
Trautwein’s Will As Strong As Ever
Other Red Sox Players’
Charities
F
ormer Red Sox pitcher John Trautwein was in the biggest jam of his life. He wasn’t pitching with the
bases loaded or trying to close out a playoff game. He had just lost his 15-year-old son, Will, who
had tragically taken his own life. As an ex-big leaguer, Trautwein had hundreds of teammates
throughout his life – teammates that became life-long friends. On the day of his son’s funeral, he was
overwhelmed by the support and love his family received from those friends, or “life teammates” as he
calls them.
“It hit me at my son's funeral when I saw my friends. Grade school and high school and college friends
were there for me and I was in Atlanta, right?” Trautwein, a native of Illinois, said. “So they had traveled
thousands of miles to be there for me. And all my best friends were friends I met in high school. So
that's how this whole concept started.”
His message to kids emphasizes two simple points:
Jon Lester
David Ortiz
David Ortiz Children’s Fund
(davidortizchildrensfund.org) is dedicated to
raising funds that enable children to access
the pediatric critical care they need to live
full and productive lives.
MARISSA MCCLAIN
Shane Victorino
John greeted fans and signed autographs in Autograph
Alley before the Red Sox-Indians game on May 25.
“Point two is that their friends are the ones that understand them the most,” he said. “They get each
other. And so, reach out to them. Talk to them. Together they're stronger, and together they can
perhaps go tell an adult if something is wrong. And that's where we don't feel my son did that. He
didn't know this. He didn't realize that he had already met the greatest friends of his life.”
Based in Atlanta, the foundation hosted its first major events outside of Georgia from May 24-26.
Trautwein delivered his inspirational message to the New Hampshire seacoast community in
Brentwood, NH on the 24th. The next day, he attended “Connor’s Climb,” a 5K family fun run and walk
for life sponsored by the Will to Live in Exeter, NH, which was completely organized and run by the
teens from Exeter. The weekend concluded on “New Hampshire Day” at Fenway Park where
Trautwein met with fans in Autograph Alley and spread his foundation’s message with “life
teammates” wristbands.
“The whole foundation is for the kids, through the kids, by the kids, so we do events that the kids
orchestrate,” Trautwein said. “In doing so, we try to push them so these bonds form from working
together and being together, and it just kind of helps emphasize this life teammates concept of
recognizing you have life teammates in your life now. As a 15- or 16-year-old, you might not know it then.”
32
“The main point I really emphasize to them is that
life is very hard for them, being a high school kid
today,” Trautwein said. “And it's harder than it was for their parents, or for me, or their coaches or
their teachers, because we just didn't have the pressures. We didn't have that 24/7 world that they
have. Whether it be social networks, whether it be academic, athletic, they're just facing things at a far
younger age than we did. So it's OK to feel stressed out. It's OK to feel strange. It's OK to not
necessarily feel like you're in control, because it's really hard.
For more information about
the Will-to-Live Foundation,
please visit will-to-live.org
or follow them on Twitter
@WillToLiveOrg.
The Dempster Family Foundation
(dempsterfamilyfoundation.org) is dedicated
to raising awareness of 22q11.2 deletion
(DiGeorge Syndrome).
NVRQT (nvrqt.org), short for “never quit,”
is the voice to support kids in their battle
against cancer and inspire researchers
working endlessly toward a cure.
Shortly after his son’s passing in 2010, Trautwein
founded the “Will to Live Foundation,” a nonprofit
organization “dedicated to improving the lives and the
'Will To Live' of teenagers everywhere through
education, motivation, consultation, charity, support
and most importantly, love and fellowship” (Will-toLive.org).
In the nearly three years since the organization’s
founding, Trautwein has given hundreds of speeches
to youth sports teams, schools and community
groups. Will to Live has generated thousands of
dollars through various fundraising efforts and Fox
Sports’ baseball reporter Ken Rosenthal wore a Will
to Live bow tie for the Red Sox game against the
Yankees on August 18 last season.
Ryan Dempster
Trautwein’s life teammates may be a little more recognizable than most,
including names like former Red Sox teammates Wade Boggs and Jim
Rice or his old catcher from Northwestern University, Yankees skipper
Joe Girardi.
“When I talk to the kids I say, 'I met Joe when I was your age.' Here we
are 30 years later, we're still good friends and we're helping each other
and it's really a neat thing.” ■
The Shane Victorino Foundation
(shanevictorinofoundation.org) is dedicated
to promoting opportunities for underserved
youth, including projects which provide
children in need with educational,
recreational and wellness programs.
Will Middlebrooks
He serves as a Jimmy Fund Co-Captain and
also supports Good Sports.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
He teams with Middlebrooks as the
other Jimmy Fund Co-Captain and
works with HomeStart and the
Wounded Warriors Project.
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