PHOENIX -- The Professional Baseball Physical Therapy Society is holding its first annual memorabilia auction beginning Monday to benefit The Miracle League. As Brewers head athletic trainer Brad Epstein sees it, it’s a perfect match.
To understand why, you have to understand the mission of The Miracle League, a nonprofit that according to its website, “removes the barriers that keep children with mental and physical disabilities off the baseball field and lets them experience the joy of America’s favorite pastime.” The first Miracle League was founded in Georgia in April 2000, and leagues have since popped up from coast to coast, growing to more than 350 organizations nationwide.
“It aligns really well with what our mission is -- for physical therapists in our game, it’s guys who are trying to get back on the field from injury, but in a Miracle League sense, it’s kids with disabilities getting to play baseball,” said Epstein, who is entering his first season with the Brewers after working previously for the Rays and Reds. “It’s a perfect marriage of the two missions coming together.”
Epstein helped found the PT Society in 2017 and is in his second term as the organization’s president. The group has provided financial support to the Miracle League for years, but the auction was a new idea that was intended to take place during last year’s World Series, only to be postponed by a fire near the Miracle League’s headquarters that forced an evacuation. Springtime seemed the perfect opportunity to renew it, Epstein said.
Here are just some of the items up for bidding:
? Autographed bats from Mike Trout, Bobby Witt Jr., Oneil Cruz, Ozzie Albies
? Kodai Senga autographed glove
? Jose Altuve autographed batting helmet
? Autographed baseballs from George Brett, Gunnar Henderson, Freddie Freeman, Manny Machado, Gerrit Cole, Corey Seager, Matt Chapman, Carlos Correa, J.T. Realmuto, Jeimer Candelario, Blake Snell, Logan Webb and Brent Rooker
? Autographed jerseys from Salvador Perez, Bo Bichette, Josiah Gray and Tony La Russa
? Autographed jersey from Christian Yelich, Willy Adames and the 2024 Brewers team
? Autographed bobbleheads from Sandy Alcántara and Nathan Eovaldi
The auction opens at 12 p.m. ET on Monday and runs until 5 p.m. ET on April 4. It is accessible at https://qtego.us/qlink/miracleleague.
For Epstein and his partners at the PT Society, it’s a rare public endeavor, since much of their work happens behind the scenes. He’s happy to step into the public eye in this case.
“It’s using our spotlight to do some good for the community,” Epstein said. “As a society, our most important mission is education. We’re actually trying to see if we can get some influence overseas, because baseball medical care is not as strong in some places as it is in the U.S.
“So it’s a matter of just spreading the word, and doing it with an organization like Miracle League to shed a spotlight on what we can do in our community, and what they’re doing in their communities. What they do is huge.”