For the third year in a row, professional baseball player Daniel Robertson and his family put on the Daniel Robertson Family Foundation Mini FanFest this past Sunday in recognition of his father, the late Don Robertson, to raise money for families where the main breadwinner has fallen ill.

“Part of the foundation, besides helping people, is promoting the awareness that when people get this diagnosis, it’s expensive and it changes your lifestyle,” said Julie Robertson, wife to Don and mother to Daniel. “It was born out of the fact that we were so appreciative that we weren’t in that situation but want to help people that are.”

In 2010, Don was diagnosed with stage IV non-smoking lung cancer. However, he had planned ahead, which helped the family continue to live in their current lifestyle. Most families aren’t that fortunate.

“My mom had a friend who had a son who was self-employed. He didn’t have a back-up plan,” said Julie. “When his mom came up, she took everything out of my garage. It hit me like a ton of bricks that there’s people out there that don’t have the money for this stuff.”

Between recognizing how much a bad diagnosis could affect a family who hadn’t had the opportunity to save up and to honor Don, the Robertson’s put together the foundation to help in any way they could. 

“We started the foundation after my dad passed in 2013 and we just wanted to do it in honor of him and just to help families that are in need,” said Daniel, Don and Julie’s third of four sons and an infielder for the Tampa Bay Rays. “It’s very cool to see this thing grow. Obviously, the first couple years we had to get our feet underneath ourselves and now we’re seeing the money dispersed and helping people out with mortgages and medical bills.”

“The most rewarding part was actually coming up with ‘who do you want to help’ and then actually helping them,” added Julie. “As a mom, the second most rewarding part is watching your young adult sons being on board, being passionate about it.”

One of the biggest fundraisers for the foundation is their Mini FanFest. 

Baseball players from around the league come to participate in the FanFest, signing autographs, taking pictures, and playing games with the fans in attendance. 

 “I love watching the kids talking to the baseball players and interacting with them, playing the games, that’s absolutely the most rewarding. It’s about remembering what it’s like to be a fan and just loving watching the fans get this opportunity,” mentioned Julie. 

Each year, more and more players have been added to the list of attendees, driving up not only the attendance, but the funds raised as well. 

“This is definitely the biggest one so far,” said Daniel. “It all just goes to credit the guys that come and help me out by attracting the fans, looking to have a good time, play some games with people and just interact with people.”

This year, new Dodger pitcher, Joe Kelly was in attendance, along with recent addition Adam McCreery.

This was Kelly’s second year attending the event, but his first as a Dodger.

“I’ve known D-Rob for multiple years now, the house I bought was his girlfriend’s house growing up, so we kinda met through that and obviously through the baseball thing,” said Kelly. “It’s a small world.

“He’s a good person, a good human-being,” Kelly added. “Whenever someone in baseball hosts or runs any kind of charity, it’s always good to get as many guys to jump in, especially being local. It’s one of those things where I’ve done it for a couple years now and it’s something that I enjoy doing and it’s obviously for a great cause.”

Although this was McCreery’s first Daniel Robertson Family Foundation event, he was happy to be there.

“This is my first time at the event and it’s fantastic. It’s for a great cause,” said McCreery. “I’m really excited to be a part of it. I couldn’t be more proud of Daniel and the Robertson family and what they’ve done. It’s great to be here.”

In addition to the price of admission, funds were raised via a raffle that contained prizes such as an autographed bobblehead, a Rays fan pack, autographed photos, and more. There was also a silent auction with signed cleats, amusement park tickets, bobbleheads, and other autographed memorabilia, including an Albert Pujols bat.

Although the event itself is over, funds are still being raised on the foundation’s website, and once the season rolls around, tickets to see the Rays play the Angels will also be available. 

While we patiently wait for next year’s DRFF FanFest and the Rays to come to town, D-Rob and McCreery look forward to the upcoming season with their respective teams.

“I’m very optimistic. We’ve got a good, young team,” said Daniel. “I think everyone’s on board to have another winning season. And hopefully make a playoff run. I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

“I’ll be here at PFA [Performance Fitness-Athletes], working hard, always getting ready, always trying to get better,” said McCreery. “I’m excited to see what happens and see how far the Dodgers can take it and see if we can help LA get some wins.”

Ironically, and perhaps even a little divine intervention, there is an exceptionally good chance that D-Rob and McCreery (and/or Kelly) will face one another this coming season. As luck would have it, the National League West teams square off against the American League East teams during interleague play in 2019, with the Rays hosting the Dodgers at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on May 21 and 22, and the Dodgers hosting the Rays at Dodger Stadium on September 17 and 18. And being that Robertson was born and raised in Upland, California and McCreery in neighboring La Verne, California (and Kelly in nearby Anaheim, California), you can bet that the smack talk is going to get hot and heavy between these three.

It just doesn’t get any better than this.

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