Rangers brighten day for kids at local hospital

Guzman, Kiner-Falefa visit Medical City Children's Hospital as part of Childhood Cancer Awareness Initiative

September 4th, 2018

DALLAS -- Seven-year-old Charley Davis lit up when Rangers first baseman played the card trick.
Guzman asked her to draw a card and remember it; Charley showed her mom, Kristen Davis, that she had pulled a queen of spades. After a few shuffles and dwindling the cards down to three, Guzman held up the remaining cards to Kristen and flicked two down to the table with his fingers.
He then held up the exact queen of spades card to Charley with a wide smile. It was one of Guzman's favorite moments during his visit to Medical City Children's Hospital on Tuesday with teammate .
"When you're a kid, you're just trying to play the game. You're just trying to play baseball," Guzman said. "And now, seeing the impact that we can make on people, I mean, I just feel very blessed. I love the sport, I love helping people out. So having been able to do that, I feel really happy."

Guzman and Kiner-Falefa made room visits around the hospital and helped distribute 200 Starlight Brave Gowns with the Rangers logo. The visit was a part of MLB's Childhood Cancer Awareness Initiative, and both players appreciated the opportunity to have the experience.
"It's awesome, just to see the bigger picture of things," Kiner-Falefa said. "You have a bad day at the field and you go 0-for-4 one night, and you're complaining. But you get to come in here and see the types of things these kids have to deal with every day, and it's really humbling. It just shows you the bigger picture of things in life."
Guzman said he enjoyed the chance to surprise the kids and change their routine for a day.
"Being able to put a smile on kids' faces, it's priceless," he said. "It feels special … they're playing with little toys and then we come in and you can see the reaction and how happy they are. I feel like that was the best part of today."

The Starlight Children's Foundation has served more than 60 million critically, chronically and terminally ill or injured children worldwide. In addition to the gowns, patients at the hospital also received goodie bags from the Rangers.
"It's incredibly inspiring to see them come out -- especially during their season -- to come and take some time to see our patients," said Brooke Henderson, a child life specialist at the hospital. "I know we had a few Rangers fans here today that were so excited, and the smiles that are brought to their faces are priceless.
"The bags are such a fun memento that they get to take home. And the brave gowns from Starlight that have the Rangers logo on them just makes it a little bit easier to be in the hospital, but more comfortable for them, and something that they can kind of show off as well when they're walking around the halls."