LOS ANGELES — The yellow bracelet Patrick Wisdom wears every game honors Braxton Fuqua, a young baseball fan who was 6 when they met.
Wisdom was in the Cardinals’ organization then, playing for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds. Braxton was battling a rare type of brain cancer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
“When I got to know him, knowing the fact that he just came from treatment, to go out there and just smile,” Wisdom said, fighting back tears, “just to know that joy that he was going to have out on the field, to provide that, it’s pretty cool.”
The Cubs chose Wisdom as the team’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, which recognizes philanthropy and community involvement. For Wisdom, his charitable work is rooted in his time with the Cardinals, from former teammate Adam Wainwright’s example and Fuqua’s “huge impact”
“It’s really humbling, and I’m super-grateful for [the nomination],” Wisdom said. “When I started getting involved with volunteering and charitable work, I wasn’t looking for recognition or awards or anything like that. Just doing it out of the goodness of my heart. And seeing the smile on those people’s faces is priceless.”
Wisdom has continued donating and raising funds for St. Jude’s in the wake of Braxton’s passing in 2019 at 8 years old.
In Chicago, Wisdom serves as a regional St. Jude ambassador. And on the road, he has remained heavily involved with Wainwright’s charitable organization, Big League Impact, whose Mission 3:18 initiative helps connect major-leaguers with service opportunities.
“There’s an array,” he said. “And that’s what I think is cool because you can go to a city, and you’re working with kids, and then the next city, you’re doing a garden. And you’re like, ‘A garden?’ And they’re like, ‘We, like, grow stuff for people that are underprivileged, and they can come and get food.’ And then you’re in a food pantry, and then you’re in a kitchen cooking food.”
In New York, Wisdom’s hands smelled like garlic for days after a day of chopping vegetables.
“A lot of Patrick’s contributions are, frankly, done very quietly,” manager Craig Counsell said. “And he’s very consistent with it. . . . He absolutely deserves this recognition. And it’s a big one.”
Steele progressing
Catch play has gone smoothly for Justin Steele (left elbow tendinitis), who resumed throwing Saturday.
“As long as it keeps going well, we hope to get to a bullpen session on this road trip,” Counsell said.
The Cubs play three games in Los Angeles and head to Colorado for a weekend series before returning home.