What Pete Frates has meant to BC baseball
BC's Justin Dunn on the inspiration the team gains from the former Eagles captain
Pete Frates made an impact on the BC baseball team as a captain. Now 31 years old and living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Frates continues have an impact on the team.
Eagles starting pitcher Justin Dunn discussed what Frates, who serves as BC’s director of baseball operations, has meant to the BC baseball team.
“Pete is everything to not only this year’s team, but everybody who plays in a BC baseball uniform,” Dunn said on an ESPN broadcast after he was selected by the Mets in the first round of the 2016 MLB Draft on Friday. “He traveled with us our freshman year, and he sends Facebook messages. If we have a bad game he’ll say, ‘Hey, keep your head up.’ And that kind of puts things in perspective for all of us as a team. It’s like, this man’s dealing with a disease like ALS, and he’s taking the time out to just tell us to keep your head up. And we’re thinking that’s the worst thing in the world, but it’s really not. That’s kind of how Pete impacts us. He shows is that things are really not as big as they seem. If he can make the best out of a situation, then we can kind of deal with what we’re going through on our daily lives.”
Frates was diagnosed with ALS in 2012 and soon after founded the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which helps raise awareness about the disease and fund research for a cure.
You can watch the entire interview here.
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