The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated Father’s Day 2023 at Dodger Stadium with a slew of pregame festivities prior to their matchup against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.
For a second consecutive year, Dodgers players were accompanied by their dads and children for the ceremonial first pitch. Austin Barnes, Mookie Betts, Jonny DeLuca, Freddie Freeman, J.D. Martinez, Shelby Miller and David Peralta were among those who participated.
DeLuca and Martinez caught the pitch from their fathers, while Barnes, Betts, Freeman, Miller and Peralta did so from their children.
The first 40,000 ticketed fans in attendance also took home a reversible Dodgers’ Father’s Day bucket hat. One side of the hat is all blue and features the trademark “LA” logo, while the other side is gray and includes the “Dodgers” script logo.
On the field, uniformed personnel wore specially designed Father’s Day caps that were paired with matching socks and blue wristbands. A symbolic blue ribbon decal was worn on jerseys, and bases featured commemorative jewels.
MLB, through their “Keep Dad in The Game” campaign, dedicated Father’s Day to the fight against prostate cancer. Since 1996, MLB, teams and players have assisted the Prostate Cancer Foundation in raising more than $70 million to help accelerate scientific breakthroughs and save lives.
Dodgers dads
The Dodgers’ paternity list went through an active stretch earlier this season, with Betts, Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Max Muncy and Caleb Ferguson all spending time on it. Phillips, Graterol and Ferguson became first-time dads.
Although no longer with the team, Cody Bellinger additionally went on paternity leave during the same general timeframe as his former teammates.
Yency Almonte and Chris Taylor are expecting fathers.
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