Photo from Vance Albitz's Twitter profile (@VanceAlbitz). In between workouts and enjoying an offseason at his parents’ home in Torrance, Calif., Vance Albitz, a minor leaguer in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, stumbled upon an article that sparked a brilliant idea.
Albitz read about a soldier who was asked what he wanted people to send him overseas.
The soldier’s response? Baseball gloves and a ball, so he and another comrade could play catch.
Combining his love of America’s pastime and his passion for those defending our country, the 25-year-old ballplayer immediately thought of a plan. He launched Gloves4Troops.com, with the goal of sending 1,000 gloves to troops across the globe, before reporting to spring training on Feb. 23.
Led by former Irish infielder and first-year assistant coach Eddie Smith (’06), the Notre Dame baseball team is lending a hand to Albitz’s noble efforts.
“I got to know [Albitz] a little bit last year. He worked out with us when I was at Santa Clara. He’d come out for batting practice,” Smith said.
A few of the gloves collected by the Irish baseball team.
In late January, Rick Reilly wrote about Albitz’s project for an article on ESPN.com.
For someone that has been a long-time reader of his work, this is one of those classic Reilly columns – the type of feel-good story that just makes you stop, think, and smile, reminding you of all that’s good in sports.
Reilly challenged readers, vowing to match the first $1,000 in donations. In just a few days, Albitz had received $27,000, with several thousand more on the way.
Shortly thereafter, the Irish decided to get involved.
“[Notre Dame assistant equipment manager] Joe Nagle sent us the article and said, ‘Hey, is this something you guys would be interested in?’ We certainly were,” Smith said.
“We sent out an email to the players and said, ‘Hey, if you have an extra glove laying around, let’s make sure to get it to these people.’ I can’t imagine a better way to put an old glove to use.”
Smith mailed the first shipment, a collection of six gloves, on Wednesday, and said the team plans to send another box in a couple weeks. In the meantime, several players are also having their parents send gloves from home, directly to California.
As of this morning, Albitz has collected 1,487 gloves, nearly 50% more than his original goal. So far, one of the biggest challenges has been finding space to store everything. After all, the Albitz family’s garage is running out of space.
While the MLB hopeful prepares to leave for spring training, he has several friends who will pitch in, hoping to continue to lead the operation out of their old high school cafeteria.
Whether it’s a glove, a ball or just a letter to a soldier, anyone is welcome to make a donation (You can find Albitz’s address in the Reilly article). It’s a simple gesture, but it’s truly touching to read about the impact it has had on some of the brave men and women defending our nation.
As SPC Dwight Gerhart wrote in an e-mail to Albitz, “You made our day when we got the gloves. We will be playing ball tomorrow afternoon thanks to you. I am a die-hard Red Sox fan. I wish they would pick up a guy like you.”
Check out more information at Gloves4Troops.com and follow the project on Twitter @VanceAlbitz.
A minor-league SS 4 the Cards has a major-league idea: Send baseballs + gloves 2 US soldiers. He needs help. My column: espn.go.com/espn/story/_/i…—
Rick Reilly (@ReillyRick) January 22, 2013
Cardinals' AAA shortstop is trying to send 1,000 gloves to US soldiers. I'll match first $1K you tweople send. Gloves4Troops.com—
Rick Reilly (@ReillyRick) January 22, 2013
And he's not on a card but Vance Albitz may be Player Of The Year: RT @JohnHassan espn.go.com/espn/story/_/i…—
Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) January 22, 2013
"My inbox is flooded. I've got goosebumps." — Cards AAA shortstop Vance Albitz, on all the people donating 2 Gloves4Troops.com … #Help—
Rick Reilly (@ReillyRick) January 23, 2013
It's impossible to tag everyone. Thank you for all the help, you know who you are. 1,000 Gloves http://t.co/RlRE1IzQ—
Vance Albitz (@VanceAlbitz) February 18, 2013
1,000 Gloves gloves4troops.com http://t.co/cUgWHVO8—
Vance Albitz (@VanceAlbitz) February 18, 2013
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