On Tuesday, a number of professional baseball players will lend their gaming expertise to an event to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
The inaugural Stream to End MS event begins at 8 p.m. ET at twitch.tv/MSsociety. It’s a Rocket League showdown and an idea first conceived by Dane Dunning, who pitched for the White Sox in 2020 but was traded to the Rangers for Lance Lynn on Dec. 8.
Lucas Giolito and Carlos Rodón, Dunning’s friends, former teammates and previous Rocket League combatants, will take part in the charity competition. The Twins' Tyler Clippard, Tigers' Derek Holland and Spencer Torkelson, Rangers' Taylor Hearn, Royals’ Alec Marsh and Mariners' Sam Tuivailala are also listed as charitable competitors.
“I love that I’m able to use my name for this. I don’t want to just be known as a baseball guy,” Dunning said. “I want to use my name for good and make an impact in this world.”
Dunning’s fiancée, Rachel, works for the National MS Society, and her shared experiences caused Dunning to get involved.
“Just hearing the things that go on with people living with MS and everything from the stories she tells me, it breaks my heart,” Dunning said. “I wanted to do something about it.”
MS is a neurological disease that interrupts the signals from the brain to other parts of the body, according to Nancy McInroy, president of the greater Illinois market for the National MS Society. People with MS can have very normal, regular lives, McInroy added, with some people having symptoms for 10 or 20 years and others having it progress more rapidly.
“Our ultimate goal is to end MS forever,” McInroy said. “It’s so critically important, and we are so grateful to Dane and rounding up some MLB players. It brings awareness to what we do and to our work, to bring awareness to the National MS Society, to connect with people living with MS in the community, to make sure those living with MS know that we are here for them for resources.
“Even more important is to bring awareness and raise money. Through Dane’s notoriety and bringing his fans and his network to this cause, it’s going to generate some significant dollars that will help get us closer to the cure. It will help allow us to provide more dollars to research, more programs to services and really assist families living with MS.”
Rocket League play will be round-robin, and each Twitch panel will have a link to a donation page through the MS Society. There also will be some special giveaways within the event, which is slated to run about two hours.
This cause has a special meaning to Giolito, whose father-in-law has MS.
“It’s been difficult, but he’s on top of all his medications and all that kind of stuff. He’s still very active. He plays golf every weekend, and he’s working, and he’s been able to do pretty well,” Giolito said. “It’s something very important to me to use my platform to give back and try to raise awareness around causes I’m passionate about.”
“We have some great people helping on stream,” said Dunning, who will also have G2 Athena, a major streamer in the Rocket League community, as part of #StreamtoEndMS. “It’s going to be a good time, and it’s for a great cause.”
Senior Reporter Scott Merkin has covered the White Sox for MLB.com since 2003.