Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton Donating 15,000 Face Shields to Hospitals in New York and California
Giancarlo Stanton is doing his part in supporting healthcare workers fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Yankees' slugger announced on Wednesday that he has donated 12,000 face shields to hospitals in New York City as well as Southern California, where he grew up. Per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post, each area will receive 6,000 shields, dispersed among several facilities, and another 3,000 will be on the way shortly after.
“I’ve seen the growing needs of the healthcare workers,” Stanton told Davidoff. “I’ve kind of been doing research and seeing what they need the most, what can benefit them through the long haul of this. I know they’ve had to exchange masks throughout the day, and with the limitation on masks in general, I thought it would be a smart idea to get those face shields to cut that number down."
The hospitals in New York that will receive Stanton's reusable shields are BronxCare Health in The Bronx, Brookdale Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and Flushing Hospital Medical Center in Queens.
Stanton and his agents partnered with Voodoo Manufacturing, utilizing the company's plethora of 3D printers as well as its 5,000-square-foot facility to mass produce the protective equipment.
“Obviously we’ve never seen anything like this," Stanton explained to Davidoff. "It just seems like every new notification on our phones, or however we get our information, isn’t positive. You’ve got to keep moving forward, see what you can do while staying at home. When there isn’t any positive news out there, for me it’s just trying to keep ready to go, keep a positive mindset, try to improve things, learn new things, better myself. Always. That’s really all you can do.”
The Yankees' outfielder plans to keep tabs on how the virus "adapts" moving forward, calling this an ongoing project. If more need arises, he'll do his best to continue to help. The 30-year-old recognized New York City and LA were hit particularly hard, especially the African-American and Latino communities.
"We’ll take care of those," he said. "Miami [where he played with the Marlins before being traded to New York in 2017] as well.”
Stanton is still in Tampa where he was rehabbing at the Bombers' Spring Training facility when MLB elected to postpone Opening Day in mid-March. He sustained a Grade 1 right calf strain during fielding drills in February, only compiling two at-bats throughout Grapefruit League play before MLB's ongoing hiatus began.
At George M. Steinbrenner Field, he's worked out alongside teammates Aaron Judge and Luis Severino, both recovering from their own individual injuries as well during the coronavirus-induced shutdown.
Silver lining for New York amid these unprecedented times is the added months off have given players like Stanton an opportunity to return to game shape, healing from any past injuries that would have otherwise kept them off the field.
Asked if he'll be available when – or if – the 2020 regular season begins, Stanton had no doubts.
“I’ll be ready to go whenever that time comes,” he told The Post.
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