Help this Texas Rangers rookie shave his head. You might win a PS5 in the process
Dane Dunning actually wants his head to be shaved, live on the World Wide Web.
It will happen if his fundraiser for multiple sclerosis goes well Tuesday night.
The Texas Rangers rookie pitcher, acquired in the offseason for Lance Lynn, will go bald if donations reach $15,000 for his Stream to End MS: Rocket League Showdown with Dane Dunning.
He will be joined by several ballplayers, including his former Chicago White Sox teammates Lucas Giolito and Carlos Rondon, former Rangers pitcher Derek Holland, and 2020 No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson.
“I play baseball, and everybody knows meas a baseball player,” Dunning said. “But I don’t want to be just known as someone who plays baseball. I want to give back to my community with the access that I have.”
Dunning’s fiancee works with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and that’s how he first came to understand the disease that affects the central nervous system. He said he was contacted by the MS Society about finding away to use his platform for good.
The video-game tournament begins at 7 p.m. and will last 90 minutes. It can be watched on the MS Society’s Twitch page. There will be several different incentives for each level hit, including Dunning giving away as PS5 once $10,000 is reached.
While you’re watching and donating, ask him about his COVID Christmas.
The right-hander said on Monday that he tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 21 and was in quarantine for 14 days. He said that he had been very dedicated to wearing masks and staying distanced, with the exception of getting fitted for a suit on Dec. 19.
“I went through every symptom,” Dunning said. “I had fevers, cough, I lost my sense of smell and everything. That lasted for probably three days out of the 14 days I quarantined. I went and got retested, it came back negative, and then I finally entered back into society.”
He called his two-week ordeal a minor setback in his offseason preparation. He has been in Arizona since mid-January and said he has thrown eight to 10 bullpen sessions as he tries to build arm strength for what figures to be his heaviest workload since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2019.
Dunning made his MLB debut last season for the White Sox but logged only 34 innings.
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 10:19 AM.
