Pittsburgh Pirates: Trevor Williams Gives Back to Community

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a lot of good players on the field, but a lot of even better people off the field.  The team is very active in the community.

One of the first things fans liked about Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Chris Archer, was how interactive he was with the fan base.  He could be seen in multiple areas of Pittsburgh, including the first game he was at, where he interacted with the kids and signed autographs.  Archer has always been known as a guy who likes to give back to his community.

The Bucs have a lot of players like this including another pitcher in the rotation.  Breakout starting pitcher Trevor Williams has found his own way to give back to the community.  The big righty had a really fantastic year in 2018 as he took a big step forward.  He made 31 starts and accumulated a win-loss record of 14-10 with a 3.11 ERA.  Furthermore, he had a career high in innings with 170.1 and also threw his first career shutout.  This was Williams’ breakout season, and he has now has solidified himself as the team’s number three starter heading into 2019.

As big of a difference Trevor Williams made on the field in 2018, or the one that he might make in 2019, Williams is making an even bigger one off it.  Infield Chatter and Baseball Bros, an Instagram page and a Twitter page, shared the story about the charity work Williams has started doing this year.

Williams has started a charity called Project 34, which helps to improve the lives of people with spinal injuries.  They provide things like new wheelchairs or help pay for physical therapy.  Williams mentions that he did want to do a charity dinner or golf outing, but he’d rather have the main charity event be a home run derby.

Why?  Well, one of Williams close friends is the reason for the inspiration to start Project 34.  Corey Hahn was an MLB draft prospect playing with Williams at Arizona State University.  One game Hahn dove headfirst into second base and ended up paralyzed from the chest down.  Williams hopes to make the home run derby an annual event and to eventually produce merchandise.

It is a really good story and great to see a Pittsburgh Pirates player trying to give back to the community.   Spinal cord injuries are life changing, so that Williams is trying to help provide to a person and their family who may be going through that speaks volumes about the type of person Williams is.  No matter how Williams pitches in 2019, he is making an even bigger difference to many families in need, and that is really what counts.