Dodgers Re-Sign Player For Heartwarming Reason

Published: June 19, 2023

Dodgers Re-Sign Player For Heartwarming Reason

By Movieguide® Contributor

For the fifth-straight year, the Dodgers have kept Andrew Toles signed to keep his medical bills on the team’s health insurance.

Toles was forced to retire from baseball in 2018 due to extreme mental health issues. He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder after staying two weeks in a mental hospital.

Mental health treatment is often expensive typically requiring multiple hospital stays and longtime use of medication. The Dodgers’ gesture has allowed Toles to continue with treatment long past what his family would have been able to afford on their own.

“We are having challenges, but nothing that God and I can’t handle. Schizophrenia, it’s just so tough,” Toles’ father, Alvin, said.

Before his mental health struggles, Toles had a promising two seasons with the Dodgers. He became a fan favorite during the 2016 postseason due to his sensation field play. Toles was beloved by his teammates as well and is dearly missed in the clubhouse.

“His name will pop-up randomly in our clubhouse. He fit in with us so fondly and was so adored. It’s just sad to see what has transpired and knowing that a lot of it is out of his control,” Dodger’s manager Dave Roberts told reporters.

The team hopes that Toles will be able to attend a game when they play in Atlanta this season.

The Dodger’s commitment to Toles is a testament to their care for their players both on and off the field. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed by fans who have lauded them for their continued support of Toles.

Movieguide® has previously reported on Dodgers player Clayton Kershaw:

Kershaw told the Los Angeles Times, “I think we were always going to do Christian Faith Day this year, but I think the timing of our announcement was sped up. Picking a date and doing those different things was part of it as well. Yes, it was in response to the highlighting of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence [by the Dodgers].” 

Kershaw announced on his Twitter, “Excited to announce the relaunch of Christian Faith and Family Day at Dodger Stadium on July 30th. More details to come— but we are grateful for the opportunity to talk about Jesus and determined to make it bigger and better than it was before COVID. Hope to see you on July 30th!”  

Two weeks ago, the Dodgers announced they would uninvite the Sisters group to the Pride game due to backlash. However, following Kershaw’s Twitter post, the Dodgers reversed their course again.  

The organization gave an apology to the Sisters and invited them to their Pride night.  

Kershaw’s response, “For us, we felt like the best thing to do in response was, instead of maybe making a statement condemning or anything like that, would be just to instead try to show what we do support, as opposed to maybe what we don’t. And that was Jesus. So, to make Christian Faith Day our response is what we felt like was the best decision.” 

Kershaw added, “As a follower of Christ, we’re supposed to love everybody well,” Kershaw said. “And I think that means being able to be at a lot of different places and be able to be a part of a lot of different things.” 

“It’s our opportunity to be able to kind of share our testimony of what we believe in and why we believe in it, and how that affects our performance on the field. It’s a great opportunity to see the platform that Jesus has given us and how to use that for his glory and not ours,” he concluded.