There’s little baseball news for the Atlanta Braves or anyone else right now, but news came from the Braves front office yesterday about support for the people who make the game happen at the ballpark.
This morning Mark Bowman reported that the Atlanta Braves offices at Truist Park are closed and provided contact information for anyone with questions.
As most know by now, following the CDC’s requested cancellation of gatherings of 50 people or more, Commissioner Rob Manfred conducted a conference call with all 30 Clubs, then announced the postponement of Opening Day pending further guidance from the CDC.
This morning MLB canceled the scheduled games in Puerto Rico and Mexico City
The same day the MLB and the MLBPA donated a combined $1M split between Feeding America and Meals on Wheels America.
On March 17, the clubs created a fund for ballpark employees.
MLB clubs have committed $30M -- $1M apiece -- to assist the ballpark employees affected by the delayed start to our season. pic.twitter.com/ZzJOkxGt2e
— MLB (@MLB) March 17, 2020
Wednesday evening, I received the Atlanta Braves Newsletter listed actions taken by the Braves to help employees and the community. I couldn’t find a link to the newsletter, so I created a PDF and linked it instead.
- The Atlanta Braves, along with every other Major League Baseball club, committed a minimum of $1 million to fund assistance for ballpark staff members
- Truist committed an additional $250,000 donation to the fund
- Provide certain relief assistance for ballpark workers at each of the Minor League Baseball facilities the Braves operate, including the Gwinnett Stripers, Mississippi Braves, Rome Braves, and Danville Braves.
- Gameday staff at CoolToday Park will get paid for the canceled spring training games.
Atlanta Braves Foundation and Freddie join in
The club, through the Atlanta Braves Foundation, created a special disaster relief fund “to help gameday workers and certain other affected members of our baseball community with special financial needs.” The newsletter didn’t define those needs.
Atlanta Braves Establish $1 million Relief Fund:https://t.co/HmFgiucyMF pic.twitter.com/jnYWjIUieo
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 17, 2020
Meanwhile, Freddie Freeman is doing Freddie Freeman things, donating $50,000 to the Atlanta Food Bank, $50,000 to Giving Kitchen, and $25,000 to the Salvation Army.
To help our community during this trying time, @FreddieFreeman5 has pledged $50,000 to @ACFB, $50,000 to @givingkitchen and $25,000 to @SalvationArmyUS ❤️#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/Qorbpa5r7R
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 18, 2020
According to a post by Mark Bowman, Freeman’s donations will help:
- Giving Kitchen to aid over 30 food service workers with utility and rent
- Atlanta Food Bank will provide at least 200,000 meals.
Some fans contacted the Braves, asking how they can help. The team responded by setting up a link, braves.com/give, for those who want to help.