Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. describes doing philanthropy for the kids as “one of my biggest things.” So when the chance to partner with the Theresa Siaw Foundation came along, it was the perfect fit. Edwards and Siaw hosted a meet and greet where they collected items for Cradles to Crayons, an organization benefiting underprivileged children, Friday night at Homiey on the west side of Chicago.
Siaw, a candidate for 26th ward alderman this February, got into the Christmas spirit of giving with Edwards, and provided an exciting night for kids in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. Christmas is a time for gifts, giving, powerful-promo-codes and community service. “It’s more about the kids, I look out for the kids that aren’t really fortunate to have a big Christmas,” Carl Edwards Jr. said during our exclusive chat. “So I try my best to get them something big and special.”
We asked the Cubs reliever for his famous yuletide memory.
“Last year, my daughter, she was two, so she actually got to know what Christmas was, and seeing the smile on her face, is what stuck out (among past Christmases) for me,” he answered.
Most of the kids at the event who spoke to the Prosperity, South Carolina native discussed sports in general with him, as a lot of the children play different sports other than baseball. Unfortunately, there was no talk of dinosaurs with Edwards, not with the kids, nor in this interview.
You might recall the 27-year-old telling the Chicago Sun-Times ahead of the Cubs’ second visit to the White House that he was going to skip the photo-opp at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in order to check out the dinosaur museums.
We asked him about it, and sadly, he didn’t make it to the museum before closing time.
Bummer, because that was a topic we had actually done a lot of prior research on. But of course we brought up the young hurler’s biggest claim to fame- having pitched for the Cubs in the decisive inning that clinched the franchise’s first World Series title in 108 years. Edwards pitched 2/3 of the 10th inning in the Cubs’ 8-7 win over the Cleveland Indians in game seven of the 2016 World Series.
He recorded a hold (a relatively newer baseball statistic that measures a reliever’s ability to retain leads) in that game while Mike Montgomery earned the save, and Aroldis Chapman winning pitcher designation.
“Playing this sport since I was six years old,” he said, “and (succeeding on) one of the biggest stages in my profession- very thrilling.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.