Phillies fans are turning their frustration with Trea Turner into something productive by funneling donations towards a cancer charity in his honor.
What do baseball slumps and cancer have in common? They both suck.
But one particular baseball slump is also now helping in the fight against cancer thanks to the thoughtfulness of some Phillies fans.
Phillies shortstop Trea Turner is having an awful first season in Philadelphia after signing a massive 11-year deal with the team. He's slashing .235/.290/.368 with an OPS+ of 79, all career-worsts since his rookie debut. He has already committed 13 errors this season.
Unsurprisingly, fans have been extremely frustrated with Turner but they've turned that frustration into something incredibly positive by giving to the V Foundation on behalf of their struggling player.
Phillies fans turn frustration with Trea Turner into donations to fight cancer
It all started with a Reddit user with the handle phillyeagles540:
"I've been particularly negative about Trea Turner, and although I haven't voiced my opinion a great deal on here, I wanted to turn some of that negativity into positivity and donate to a cause he himself cares deeply about.
I have decided to take his jersey number (7) and multiply that by the amount of games I've attended so far this year. I implore others to donate or contribute as much as they're comfortable! This could very well flop in terms of a post on here, but I wanted to at least throw out the opportunity for others to do the same: https://www.v.org"
A wave of other Phillies fans have followed suit with at least one user claiming they have amassed $1,200 in donations. And that was on Thursday before more widespread media coverage.
Of all the traditions that gain popularity among sports fans, pushes for charitable donations like this is the best. We've seen Bills fans find various reasons to donate to rivals. We've seen NFL fans at large give money to Damar Hamlin's charity after his heart failure on the field against the Bengals.
And now Phillies fans are finding a way to change the tone around the disappointing performance of their own player.
This is just awesome.