A busy week of events for the Los Angeles Dodgers came to a close with the first annual “CT3 Foundation 2024 Charity Polar Plunge” hosted by Chris Taylor and his wife Mary.
It came just one day after DodgerFest and Mookie Betts’ charity bowling tournament, which both took place following a week’s worth of Dodgers Love L.A. Community Tour events.
Many of Taylor’s Dodgers teammates showed up to take a plunge into the water, with Will Smith, Mookie Betts, James Outman, Gavin Lux, Jason Heyward, Tony Gonsolin, Miguel Rojas, Landon Knack, Michael Grove, Freddie Freeman, Blake Treinen, Gavin Stone, Alex Vesia, Tyler Glasnow, Brusdar Graterol, J.P. Feyereisen, Bobby Miller and Gus Varland among those in attendance.
Taylor said the idea for the Polar Plunge came through the Special Olympics, which hosts the events as fundraisers.
“We had a few ideas floating around, and then we landed on this one,” Taylor said. “It’s a little outside the box.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also showed up and gave a pre-plunge pep talk to his players and shared his technique for going into the water.
Dave Roberts is telling his technique for taking the Polar Plunge pic.twitter.com/kbJW7a1ucc
— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) February 4, 2024
After a countdown, the players and participants ran into the water, which was 58 degrees at the time, just a little warmer than the air outside in Manhattan Beach.
“The hardest part is going to be getting out,” Taylor said due to the water temperature being warmer than the air.
As everyone ran out of the water, they were greeted with a medal for finishing the event, along with a special CT3 Polar Plunge towel.
“It felt great,” Outman said after coming out of the ocean. “It was a little chilly. When it hit my chest, that’s when I would really feel it. But a nice little shot of life after going in there for sure.”
“The cold plunge at the stadium (training room) is way colder,” Miller said. “I think my coldest was around 35 degrees, so this was easy.”
The event was hosted by Mario López, who was acting as the emcee. However, López also joined the group taking a plunge into the water.
The beneficiary of the event was the Friendship Foundation, an organization dedicated to creating friendships and opportunities for people with special needs.
Aside from the tickets and sponsors, the event also raised money through donations from fans sponsoring the players. Taylor led with just shy of $1,600 raised, while Feyereisen came in second with just above $660.
The only other player to pass the $600 mark was Smith.
Chris Taylor’s CT3 Foundation
Taylor established the CT3 Foundation due to being personally affected by osteosarcoma when Kyle Profilet, a childhood friend, lost a two-and-a-half year battle to bone cancer in 2019.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
