TUSTIN, Calif. — In baseball, billions of dollars are generated because of numbers.
Statistics make the sports world go 'round. It's especially true for baseball, where some numbers are almost sacred.
Home runs, batting averages, wins, losses, ERA, WHIP, OPS — they all define the very essence of the game, right down to the number of hot dogs sold at a stadium. Good numbers mean money the players and owners. Numbers go down, and so does salary and revenue.
Numbers also tell a big part of the story when it comes to children with autism.
One in every 110 children in the U.S. is afflicted with an autistic disorder. It's more prevalent among kids than pediatric cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS — combined.
Early, intense treatment has proved extremely effective in allowing many children to lead as close to normal lives as possible. But as the number of children with autism grows, the numbers tell a distressing story.
The treatments are expensive, and they're long-term. In the current economic climate, many children are unable to undergo the crucial therapies and foundations that treat childhood autism need immediate and lasting fiscal help. So it's not at all surprising that the sport which relies on numbers for its existence more than any other — baseball — is stepping up to help beat this disease.
Sunday night at the Bowlmor Lanes in Tustin, dozens of current and former baseball players gathered for the Stars and Strikes fundraiser organized by two-time All-Star relief pitcher Eddie Guardado.
Nicknamed "Everyday Eddie" because of his ability to take the ball at any time early in his career, Guardado has a daughter, 6-year old Ava, who has autism. When Guardado and his wife Lisa learned that Ava had a life-long battle ahead of her, they created the Eddie Guardado Foundation in 2008. It started providing money for families unable to afford treatment and also provided practical help to children already being treated.
Lisa Guardado told the Orange County Register that they saw that many families were requesting iPads to help their kids learn. The Guardado Foundation — which has now teamed up with ACT-Today! (Autism Care and Treatment) of Tarzana, Calif. — provided $27,000 for the devices.
"These kids can't wait 10 years for the research," Eddie Guardado told the paper. "We have to use what works now ... the earlier the better."
He re-emphasized that point Sunday night.
"There's no doubt that's the absolute truth; it's the way we have to approach it right now," he said. "When ... Ava was diagnosed, that was in 2008, and it was about 1 in every 2,000 kids born with autism. Now, it's 1 in 110. That should tell you right there that we need to fight this head-on and not wait around, hoping for a cure. Hope is good and a cure would be great. Be we've learned that immediate action is what's needed right now."
So Guardado, always one of the most popular players in the major leagues, contacted a group of his friends and former teammates to participate in Sunday night's fundraiser. Nearly every single person invited to help made an appearance.
Torii Hunter, Vernon Wells, Howie Kendrick and LaTroy Hawkins of the Angels were there, joined by former Halos Garret Anderson, Troy Percival, Aaron Sele and Gary Pettis. Arizona's All-Star reliever J.J. Putz showed up, along with the Texas Rangers' Michael Young, Adrian Beltre and Derek Holland. The Angels and Rangers will be going at each other all summer long, but they were on Guardado's team Sunday night.
"There'll be plenty of time for (competition)," Hunter said. "We're all here to support Eddie and his family and try to help beat this thing.
"I have a couple friends that have kids with autism, and most of those kids are bright; very intelligent. It's just a disease that affects kids in different ways. We're here trying to make a difference and trying to find out why (it happens). Events like this really help the cause, and it gives me and everybody here the chance to give back, to do some good for others."
Wells, well-known throughout his career in Toronto and Los Angeles for his work with charitable causes, says that raising money is very important, but it's just as crucial to shed light on the problem.
"As baseball players, we thankfully can do that," Wells said before slipping on his bowling shoes. "It's so hard for a lot of these kids, going through what they have to go through to be diagnosed. So, it's important to get the awareness up; to make sure that parents know that some of the differences they may see (in their child) need to be checked. The earlier you can get to it, the better, because you can get the kids going through the (therapies) they need.
"The science is getting better; the doctors are getting better. They now know more about what to look for and how to treat it. And I've seen it first hand with a good friend of mine and his son. His improvement has been remarkable because it was caught early and they were able to start treatment right away. That's why we're here tonight, to hopefully raise money and help things get better as quickly as possible."
For more information, go to: www.act-today.org
