SAUGUS — Saugus’ Dario Pizzano has accomplished a lot with a baseball bat.
From being a Saugus American star on the 2003 Little League World Series team, to completing a 10-year professional career with the Seattle Mariners and New York Mets organizations, he’s certainly rounded all of the bases.
That said, being Director of Fundraising for a non-profit named MS4MS (Mission Stadiums for Multiple Sclerosis) is, perhaps, what he’s most proud of.
“This became something I was very passionate about – just as passionate as baseball,” said Pizzano, who played at Malden Catholic and Columbia University, where he’s a Hall-of-Famer.
Pizzano’s mother, Tracie, has been battling MS since 1998.
“I was always interested in getting involved with a cause that meant a lot to me,” he said. “I always envisioned using the game of baseball to bring awareness.”
Well, call it a home run. The second annual #SpreadingOrange MS4MS charity event will be held at Fenway Park on Saturday, Sept. 21 when the Red Sox host the Minnesota Twins at 4:10 p.m.
Pizzano, who has helped raise more than $1,000,000 since 2019, said, “We’re hitting this thing from every angle.”
“Corporate sponsors are how we make the most money,” he said. “We have tickets for the event that cost $92. Included in that ticket are admission to the game, a $10 donation, an orange shirt, and a specially-made hat the Red Sox helped us create… They’re giving us batting practice passes [and] we’re going to be in five different sections under the Sam Adams deck. Cask ‘N Flagon is hosting a postgame get-together for us and, actually, donating back a percentage of their proceeds at the end of the night.”
Pizzano will also be teaming up with another Saugus native, content creator and baseball personality Jared Carrabis, to spread the word.
“I literally grew up with him and have known him my entire life,” Pizzano said. “I’m going to be on his podcast on Sunday and he’s going to help me push the event.”
Last year’s event came with 180 attendees, but Pizzano said he’s hoping for 350 this time around.
“It’s just going to be an all-around amazing event,” said Pizzano, who lives in New Jersey and works for J.P. Morgan in Manhattan. “We want to turn Fenway orange.”
While playing professional baseball, Pizzano decided he didn’t want to wait anymore when it came to bringing awareness to MS.
“I reached out to a lot of people and got in touch with Sam Greenberg in 2019. He started [MS4MS] out of a dorm room in college and we’ve come a long way since,” Pizzano said. “I started as a lead ambassador.”
Today, MS4MS has 27 ambassadors across the country.
When asked about returning to Fenway Park, Pizzano swung on the first pitch to talk about one of his favorite ballparks.
“Being six or seven miles from Fenway, I had gone to countless games. I remember my first game when I was 6 years old against the A’s. Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco were on that team,” he said. “I also remember following the Red Sox while at Williamsport. Then, they hosted us on the field when we came back. We threw out the first pitch and I stood with Johnny Damon at center field for the national anthem. It holds a special place in my heart.”
Home page: https://ms4ms.org
Tickets: https://fevo-enterprise.com/event/Ms4msday24
Donate (goal: $40,000): https://my.onecause.com/fundraiser/organizations/sf-0013c000021ii5lAAA/fundraisers/fundraiser:4ffb098e-25a8-4dad-94a1-a5fed49f7767
