Now batting, Cole Hamels? Former pitcher among Phillies stars set to compete in charity ‘Sluggball’ event
The baseball variant, cofounded by Ruben Amaro Jr., is fast-paced and all about offense. Proceeds will benefit the Darren Daulton Foundation and the Ruben Amaro Sr. Foundation.
The MLB All-Star Game isn’t the only event bringing big baseball names to Philly this summer.
The Sluggball All-Star Classic will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Aug. 8 at Penn’s Meiklejohn Stadium. Fans can purchase tickets at playsluggball.com, and NBC Sports Philadelphia will televise the event, which Ruben Amaro Jr. said will include multiple games of Sluggball.
Sluggball, which was cofounded by Amaro, the former MLB player and Phillies general manager, was developed as a way to give former baseball or softball players an outlet when their careers were finished.
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Rosters, which still are being finalized, feature names like Phillies World Series MVP Cole Hamels, Mickey Morandini, Milt Thompson, Kyle Kendrick, Domonic Brown, Kevin Stocker, Phillies Wall of Famer Mike Lieberthal, and even Amaro himself. Charlie Manuel and Larry Bowa will serve as the managers, and Amaro said he and Sluggball’s other cofounders are working to add surprise names.
The proceeds from the event will benefit the Darren Daulton Foundation, which is focused on providing assistance to people suffering from primary malignant brain tumors, and the Ruben Amaro Sr. Foundation, which works to provide college scholarships and make high-level opportunities more accessible.
“It’s a really cool time for people to be able to watch the Cole Hamels and the Mike Lieberthals, and the Mickey Morandinis, et cetera, of the world compete against each other in a cool competition that is managed by some legends,” Amaro said.
Sluggball is a four-on-four competition that focuses only on the offensive side of baseball. The fast-paced rounds focus on hitting to certain areas of the field to accumulate points and demonstrate situational hitting skills. Players have eight swings or 35 seconds per at-bat.
And having players like Hamels — who was known for his 3.43 career ERA, filthy changeup, and 2008 postseason dominance on the mound rather than his .169 batting average, 116 hits, and two home runs in his 668 at-bats — trying to prove themselves in the batter’s box only adds intrigue.
“Those guys [Hamels and Kendrick] don’t do it anymore, but they did back then, and they were actually really good athletes,” Amaro said. “[Hamels] proved [he could hit] as a player sometimes … but then he’ll prove it in his post-career too.”
Philly is hosting MLB’s All-Star festivities in July, and Amaro hopes that will bring a “trickle-down effect” of new eyes to Sluggball. His event will coincide with Phillies Alumni Weekend, which starts with Chase Utley’s induction into the Phillies Wall of Fame on Aug. 7. Alumni Day is Aug. 9.
As a former player and an ex-general manager, Amaro knows there is a “significant amount of interest” around that weekend that can generate a buzz for the Sluggball All-Star Classic.
The goal, Amaro said, is to “show people how fun” Sluggball is and to benefit the foundations for which they’re playing.
“We’ve had some opportunities to have tournaments and/or [Sluggball] on display, and, frankly, every single person that has been exposed to this has really enjoyed it,” Amaro said. “It’s a cool battleground for guys to be able to compete against each other, talk a little smack, maybe, and compete against each other.”
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