Rangers' Dane Dunning Reveals Charity Goal, COVID-19 Recovery

“I hope we reach that,” Dunning said of his charity goal. “I’m ready to look bald.”

Dane Dunning is hoping he’ll get to shave his head soon.

One of the newest additions to the Texas Rangers’ pitching staff is hosting a charity event on Tuesday to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. 

“Obviously, I play baseball and everybody knows me as a baseball player, but I don’t want to be just known as someone who plays baseball,” Dunning told the media in a Zoom call. “I want to give back to my community and do what I can with the support that I have and the access that I have at this point.”

Immortals Gaming Club is partnering with the National MS Society to host the inaugural Stream to End MS event, where Dunning is hosting a Rocket League showdown with several other players from around Major League Baseball. 

The event will be streamed live on twitch.tv/MSsociety on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CST.

The lineup of big-league players competing in the event include his former White Sox teammates Lucas Giolito and Carlos Rodón, along with his new Rangers teammate Taylor Hearn and former Rangers southpaw Derek Holland. The Twins' Tyler Clippard, Tigers' Spencer Torkelson, Royals’ Alec Marsh, and Mariners' Sam Tuivailala are also going to compete.

Dunning’s inspiration to do something for the National MS Society came from his fiancée, who organizes and runs an annual bike race for them as well.

“I always wanted to start up a charity event or camp,” Dunning said. “With this, I play video games all the time, so it’s an easy way to connect video games with giving back.”

The competitive stream with include a number of recurring and one-time milestones, with giveaways and prizes attached to each milestone. The incentives include anything from a signed baseballs and jerseys to Bose headphones, and even watching each player do their favorite dance move on camera.

Dunning’s goal is to raise $10,000 during the 90-minute stream, at which point Dunning will give away the grand prize: a brand new Sony PlayStation 5. To make things more interesting, if the event can raise $15,000, Dunning will shave his head on camera.

Dunning’s charity event wraps up a rather eventful offseason for the 26-year-old right-hander. He was the centerpiece in a December trade between the Rangers and White Sox that sent veteran workhorse Lance Lynn to the south side of Chicago.

Not long after the trade, Dunning contracted COVID-19 while back home in Jacksonville, Florida.

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“I had to quarantine myself for two weeks, which was a minor setback.” Dunning explained. “It’s better to have this minor setback in the offseason because in-season, it’s two weeks of quarantine, then you have to rebuild back up and it’s a month before you get back into playing baseball."

Dunning experienced all of the common COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, coughing, and loss of taste and smell. He also said he doesn’t know of any lingering effects from contracting the virus. Dunning has been in Arizona for a few weeks now and has gone through another quarantine, passed two tests for COVID-19, and also underwent EKG and echo tests ahead of his final intake testing on Monday morning.

With spring training on the horizon, Dunning will hopefully wrap up this eventful offseason by giving away a PS5 and a colder scalp.

“I hope we reach that,” Dunning said. “I’m ready to look bald.”

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