MLB star gives touching interview after honoring late daughter

Pete Fairbanks is known for giving the best interviews in Major League Baseball.

Whether he’s describing his outing in one of the most unique, brutal, and honest ways imaginable or hilariously explaining how he got over making a bad pitch, the Tampa Bay Rays reliever is known for being entertaining.

But as he’s found his name on the trading block with the Rays looking to sell — already having traded Isaac Paredes, Randy Arozarena and Jason Adam — it’s fair to say that Fairbanks’ mind is elsewhere.

On Sunday, Fairbanks and his wife, Lydia, hosted the Turner Syndrome Foundation prior to the Rays’ 2-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Fairbanks locked down his 20th save of the 2024 season by getting Will Benson out on strikes and doing so with the potential tying run in Jake Fraley just having singled.

Of course, emotions must have been running high for Fairbanks to host a foundation in honor of his daughter, Ellis, who he and his wife tragically lost to Turner Syndrome this offseason. For every strikeout, he donates to the foundation. And it’s rather fitting that he notched Sunday’s win with a strikeout.

Fairbanks spoke with Tricia Whitaker following the win and admitted he was getting a “little choked up” as he soaked in what had become a “pretty special day.”

“Well, my pockets are a 100 lighter,” he said in jest. “But you know, I think it was a great summation of what we’ve been trying to do. If I could encourage everybody to go to raysbaseball.auctions.mlb.com … If you’re local, come build some Legos with me. It was a perfect ending to everything we’ve built toward over the past couple of months.

Fairbanks has seen a lot of butterflies recently. And the butterfly is a symbol of Turner Syndrome.

“Yeah, definitely felt a piece out there,” Fairbanks said when asked if he felt his late daughter was with him Sunday. “I’ll take that.”

Here’s some context that Whitaker provided:

For those who don’t know, Turner Syndrome is a genetic condition affecting females. It occurs when one or both X chromosomes are missing or abnormal. This happens randomly during conception and isn’t caused by anything the parents did.

[ Tricia Whitaker ]

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