Basallo saw extra O's gear lying around, and D.R. kids were top of mind
This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
BALTIMORE -- Throughout the season, the Orioles hand out plenty of giveaways to fans attending games at Camden Yards -- from shirts to bobbleheads to hats and more. However, there is inevitably leftover inventory that ends up in storage.
When Samuel Basallo learned that, the 22-year-old rookie catcher came up with an idea.
Why not see if some of those extra giveaway items could be sent to kids throughout Basallo’s hometown of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic? The young Baltimore star knew how much the children in the area would appreciate receiving such gifts.
So, Basallo got in touch with the appropriate O’s employees to see if such an initiative was possible.
“If you guys don’t want something, just give it to me and I’m going to find people who are going to like that,” Basallo told them. “It’s going to make people happy.”
And sure enough, the vision came to fruition.
Basallo has been sending shipments of giveaway items -- such as the Orioles’ Maryland flag and pride jerseys, Kyle Bradish jersey hoodies and bobbleheads of teammates Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg -- to the D.R. Then, Basallo’s father, Jairo, and his uncle, Eudalyn, find specific places to donate them and drive around to various communities.
It’s a win-win all around.
“I like making the kids happy,” Basallo said. “I know how hard it is for some kids to get gifts, especially because I’ve been through that. Being able to make kids happy, make them smile, that makes me happy.”
Among the local D.R. youth sports leagues to which the Basallo family has donated to are Liga deportiva sandy (Sandy Sports League) in Azua, Liga deportiva Valdez Academy (Valdez Academy Sports League) in Distrito Nacional, Liga deportiva jabao (Jabao Sports League) in Sector San José and Liga deportiva más béisbol (More Baseball Sports League) and Parque mirador sur (Mirador Del Sur Joaquín Balaguer Park) in Santo Domingo.
When Basallo does these charitable actions, he thinks back to his own childhood and what it would have meant to him to have an MLB player do such things. His beliefs were instilled in him by his parents, who wanted to make sure their son thought of others when he grew up.
“As a kid, I didn’t really have that opportunity to have a lot of baseball players give a lot of things away, especially in my hometown,” Basallo said. “So it is something I always wanted to do for the kids. Mom and Dad always told me, ‘Do what you can to help those around you,’ and that’s always stuck with me. And so now that I’m in this position, I try to do what I can to help the kids and give back to my community.”
Signed out of the D.R. by the Orioles for a bonus of $1.3 million in January 2021, Basallo quickly became a top prospect in the club’s farm system, even though he was only 16 at the time. He ascended the Minor League ranks rapidly, then reached the Majors for his debut on Aug. 17, 2025, in Houston.
Five days after Basallo’s first MLB game, he signed an eight-year, $67 million contract extension, locking in a long-term future with Baltimore.
Basallo makes sure to use some of his own resources to give back to his old communities, too.
“In the offseason, I give them toys, things like that,” Basallo said. “I buy a lot of stuff and give it to them.”
As long as Basallo is in this spot, he plans on finding ways to give back to where he came from in the Dominican Republic. It’s as important to him as playing baseball has always been.
“I just feel like I’m doing the Lord’s work by being able to do those little things, just making kids smile,” Basallo said, “making them happy by being able to help them out in that way.”