{"id":915,"date":"2022-12-06T11:43:53","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T19:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?p=915"},"modified":"2023-02-10T10:46:11","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T18:46:11","slug":"diamondbacks-winter-classic-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2022\/12\/06\/diamondbacks-winter-classic-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Diamondbacks Host More than 550 Children in 25th Annual Winter Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diamondbacks Host 25th Annual Winter Classic<\/h2>\n

The Arizona Diamondbacks hosted more than 550 children from schools across the Valley Monday at Chase Field in the 25th annual Winter Classic, presented by University of Phoenix. Children from the schools, which serve generally low-income families, received new shoes, socks, a backpack, a sweatshirt, a Diamondbacks cap, books, and school supplies.<\/p>\n

The event began in December 1998 when Randy Johnson heard there were children who didn\u2019t have a good pair of shoes. This broke his heart, so he called Nike and asked if they could help him get shoes to these children. Nike agreed, and the event was born. \u201cThere\u2019s always been a need for young children to be taken care of and feel special all the time, and especially at this time of year,\u201d Johnson said in 2019. \u201cI just started with giving the shoes away, but there are all kinds of activities that have been added along over the years. It\u2019s still a thrill to see a young boy or girl come in and get a pair of shoes and say, \u2018Thank you.\u2019 It\u2019s an important time of the year, especially for our young children, to make them feel special, because they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2022 Winter Classic<\/h3>\n
\"Leo
PHOENIX, Dec 5, 2022 \u2014 Leo Gilmartin (left) and other Diamondback volunteers hand out shoes to children at the 25th annual Winter Classic Presented by University of Phoenix, hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Photo by Evan Thompson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Johnson was unable to attend this edition, but some other Diamondbacks, past and present, were. Former left fielder Luis Gonzalez, pitching coach Brent Strom, assistant pitching coach Dan Carlson, assistant hitting coach Drew Hedman, outfielder Pavin Smith, and former closer J.J. Putz were all there. They helped hand out shoes but also visited with the kids and their teachers, posing for pictures and signing autographs upon request.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a fun event for us,\u201d said Gonzalez, a regular attender. \u201cTo see the pure excitement and joy and all these kids\u2019 faces when they get their shoes and socks and get to run around here on a big-league field? That’s what it’s all about.\u201d Johnson is also typically there. \u201cSeeing a 6\u201910\u201d guy handing out shoes to little kids\u201d is something Gonzalez enjoys. He added, \u201cIt’s always been fun. We always try to get former guys that played, current DBack players, and all our employees out here as volunteers. A lot of volunteers today from the University of Phoenix are out here. So this is fun for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brent Strom Attends His First Winter Classic<\/h3>\n
\"A
PHOENIX, Dec 5, 2022 \u2014 A pitching station at the 25th annual Winter Classic Presented by the University of Phoenix, hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Photo by Evan Thompson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A first-time attendee was Brent Strom, who just finished his first year as Diamondbacks pitching coach. He was more than eager to attend. \u201cI’ve worked with kids my entire life. To see the joy on their face running around \u2014 I want to promote this game. It’s a game that I grew up with, and I hope to pass that on to these young kids. So however I can bring a smile to their face \u2014 I’m all for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strom does other events with children in the name of making them happy while promoting the game he loves. \u201cDown in Tucson, I do a few things with kids and run some camps to try and get kids involved in this game. It’s not a game that lends itself to a person individually starting it by themselves like basketball, where you can get a ball and go play by yourself. You have to get a group together. It’s disconcerting sometimes to drive around Tucson and see empty baseball fields that nobody’s using. Unless it’s organized, they seem to stay vacant. Back in the day, they used to be able to grab kids and you just see a field for you to play. If you only had seven people, right field was closed or this and that. It was that kind of game. It’s not that way anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Event<\/h3>\n
\"The
PHOENIX, Dec 5, 2022 \u2014 The Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary station at the 25th annual Winter Classic Presented by the University of Phoenix, hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Photo by Evan Thompson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to the gifts, attendees got to visit several stations across the Chase Field outfield. One was the University of Phoenix Reading Corner and Santa Station. They received a free book here and got to have a picture made with Santa. There was the Baseball Station with Baxter, where they got to hit whiffle balls on a miniature field. Adjacent to this was a spot where they could pitch and see how fast the ball traveled. Pavin Smith and his wife manned this station. Another station was the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary, where attendees could see various reptiles, including two non-venomous snakes and a tortoise. Resolution Copper hosted The Science of Baseball, where attendees saw physics applied to baseball concepts. Rounding out the stations were Dancing with the Be Kind Crew and DBacks Training.<\/p>\n

The event is something Gonzalez and others certainly look forward to every year. \u201cThis is a special time for us because it’s about giving and for us, to be out here during the holidays, and be able to give back to our community. That’s what’s most special to all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
PHOENIX, Dec 5, 2022 \u2014 A tortoise sits on a tarp as part of the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary’s station at the 25th annual Winter Classic Presented by the University of Phoenix, hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Photo by Evan Thompson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Main Photo credits:<\/h4>\n

PHOENIX, Dec 5, 2022 \u2014 Baxter, the Diamondbacks mascot, welcomes Jamie Hemphill and her students from Valencia Elementary School to the 25th annual Winter Classic Presented by the University of Phoenix, hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Photo by Evan Thompson)<\/em><\/p>\n

Players and coaches mentioned:<\/h4>\n

Randy Johnson<\/a>, Luis Gonzalez<\/a>, Brent Strom<\/a>, Dan Carlson<\/a>, Pavin Smith<\/a>, J.J. Putz<\/a>, Drew Hedman<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diamondbacks Host 25th Annual Winter Classic The Arizona Diamondbacks hosted more than 550 children from schools across the Valley Monday at Chase Field in the 25th annual Winter Classic, presented by University of Phoenix. Children from the schools, which serve generally low-income families, received new shoes, socks, a backpack, a sweatshirt, a Diamondbacks cap, books, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[51,83,84,85,86,50,87,88],"class_list":["post-915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diamondbacks","tag-2022-mlb-offseason","tag-brent-strom","tag-drew-hedman","tag-j-j-putz","tag-luis-gonzalez","tag-nl-west","tag-pavin-smith","tag-randy-johnson","pmpro-has-access","eq-blocks"],"yoast_head":"\nDiamondbacks Host 25th Annual Winter Classic - Major League Baseball<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Arizona Diamondbacks gave shoes, socks, backpacks, and school supplies to over 550 children in the 25th annual Winter Classic.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2022\/12\/06\/diamondbacks-winter-classic-2022\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Diamondbacks Host 25th Annual Winter Classic - Major League Baseball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Arizona Diamondbacks gave shoes, socks, backpacks, and school supplies to over 550 children in the 25th annual Winter Classic.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2022\/12\/06\/diamondbacks-winter-classic-2022\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Major League Baseball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100088190202878\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thompsontalks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-06T19:43:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-10T18:46:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Diamondbacks-Winter-Classic-20221205-01-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Evan M. 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Thompson, Editor-in-chief","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/cropped-Evan-on-field-120x120.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/cropped-Evan-on-field-120x120.jpg","caption":"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief"},"description":"Evan is the owner and sole contributor of Thompson Talks, a website discussing the Big Four North American Pro Sports as well as soccer. He covered the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2019 to 2023, the Colorado Rockies in 2024, and has covered the Athletics since Spring Training 2025. He also is our National Writer. His first and biggest love is baseball. Evan lives in Gilbert, Arizona and loves history, especially of sports. He is a member of the Hemond Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). He released his first book, Volume I of A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs, in October of 2021. His second book, Volume II of A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs (1977\u20131984) came out September 2024. Order Evan's books here. Follow Evan on Twitter: @evan_m_thompson Support Evan on Patreon: https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/user?u=81411994","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thompsontalks\/","https:\/\/x.com\/evan_m_thompson","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@evanthompson8435"],"url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/author\/evan\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=915"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2097,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915\/revisions\/2097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}