Padres surprise fans throughout SD on charity tour

SAN DIEGO -- Leon Duenas and his father, Leopoldo, have spent more than 800 consecutive nights at the Ronald McDonald House in San Diego. In that time, Leon, age 16, has been undergoing treatment for Leukemia at Rady Children's Hospital. He’s hopeful to finish his treatment this March.

A native of the island of Saipan, Leon loved baseball -- and particularly Fernando Tatis Jr. -- well before his cancer diagnosis forced his temporary relocation to San Diego. But after spending the past couple of years in San Diego ... well, you can count him among the Padres' biggest fans.

"As long as I'm outside of my treatment, I watch the games," Duenas said.

So, on Friday afternoon when the Padres' surprise charity tour arrived at the Ronald McDonald House, it sent Leon racing for his autographed City Connect Padres hat. He was several autographs short of the full squad, including a couple of players on this stop of the tour. Deadline-acquisition Jason Adam was among them.

"We get to go play a game for a living, so any time you can use that to go bless other people, it's a gift," Adam said. "The kids in here and the families are going through so much. It puts everything into perspective, and hopefully we can put a smile on some faces."

Throughout San Diego, the Padres did exactly that on Friday. Ahead of Saturday's FanFest, the team embarked on a 12-stop charity tour, with players split into four groups. The first stop on the north route was the Ronald McDonald House -- which provides families with a place to stay, along with meals and support, while their children receive medical care.

The handful of Padres on the north route served lunches for about 20 minutes, then they toured the complex and met and interacted with fans, before shuttling to their next stop.

"Being from here, this is a lot of fun," said right-hander Joe Musgrove, a San Diego native. "I've had family members that have spent a lot of time over at Rady's. So getting to make a stop here is really special."

After spending an hour at the Ronald McDonald House, the group visited the SDPD Police Plaza and the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Diego.

The other tours included stops at local elementary schools, UCSD Hillcrest Hospital, the San Diego Rescue Mission South County Lighthouse and Naval Base San Diego. A number of stops on the tour featured causes near and dear to the heart of beloved late owner Peter Seidler, who passed away in November 2023.

"As we get further and further away from the time he left us, it's important for us to remember those things and to carry on what he started," Musgrove said. "All of us that are under these long-term deals, that was a big part of what he preached to us -- not only the performance on the field, but being involved in the community and making an impact."

Seidler's legacy was on full display throughout the city on Friday, including with the Duenas family. Leon first arrived in December 2022. Now, the family is hopeful he'll be cleared to head home in March. Which is wonderful, of course, though Leon acknowledged he would be somewhat saddened to be so far from his beloved Padres.

"Such a big thank you to Ronald McDonald House, because they've kept us here for two years already," Leopoldo said. "We're getting close to finishing treatment, and we'll head home. But I know he wants to come back [to San Diego]."

The Padres will be there to welcome him.

"For us players, this is one of the reasons why we play the game -- to give back to the community," said right-hander Bryan Hoeing -- also a Trade Deadline acquisition and also one of Leon's primary autograph targets on Friday. "These families are going through some hard times, children in the hospital. Being able to come out here, if we can give them a little bit of light in maybe some dark times, it means a lot to us."