Former ballplayer Dario Pizzano spearheads local fight against MS – Boston Herald

It wasn’t exactly according to plan.

But the impact, once again, was clear and substantial.

Around the corner from Fenway Park on Sept. 21, 2024 – the only game last season the Boston Red Sox got rained out – former Malden Catholic baseball star Dario Pizzano was in the back room of Cask ‘n Flagon sports bar, decked out in orange alongside an army of at least 150 others.

Pizzano, the director of fundraising for Mission Stadiums for Multiple Sclerosis (MS4MS), had played a leading role with CEO and founder Sam Greenberg in organizing #spreadingORANGE Day at Fenway Park – an event directed at spreading MS awareness and fundraising, by attending the Red Sox-Minnesota Twins game dressed in symbolic orange and participating in post-game festivities at the sports bar.

A postponed game meant a few more graciously donated hours at Cask ‘n Flagon. And in the back room, Pizzano’s cousin brought him a random patron she had met in the restroom, who had asked her what was with all the orange.

Pizzano told the woman about the event. She came to tears.

“She’s like, ‘This is some sort of serendipitous thing because I was here for a weekend, I’d never been to a Red Sox game, and it got rained out, but it turned positive because my mom passed away from MS – I want to get involved,’” Pizzano recalled. “It was awesome. That’s exactly why the awareness piece is so important. Of course, the money we raise and stuff is huge. But oh my God, (MS) really affected her. And it was hard for her, and she wanted to get involved. That’s what we do it for.”

In 2019, Pizzano – a player at the time within the New York Mets organization – wanted to do something good with his platform. He was thinking of waiting until he got called up the big leagues, but couldn’t wait anymore to advocate for his mother, Tracie, and all others suffering through or affected by MS.

Pizzano can talk forever about the impact his parents had on him and his siblings, guiding him all the way through living out his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. In his gratitude, he wanted to be there for his mother, who had been diagnosed with MS in 1998.

So, he became an ambassador for MS4MS. And three years later, he voluntarily took over as director of fundraising.

“It really matters to me,” he said. “I have the same level of passion about this that I had about baseball. I’m all in. We’ve grown exponentially since 2019. We’ve raised (about) $1.5 million in the last three years, and we continue to grow. I’m now the director of fundraising since 2022, and I love doing this stuff.”

There’s a lot to MS4MS – an ambassador program, a MS support group, a number of small and big events geared toward spreading more awareness and fundraising for research, and more. And on Saturday, June 14, one of the biggest of such events comes back to Fenway Park.

The 3rd Annual #spreadingORANGE Day is a major one – hosted for the first time on a day the rival New York Yankees come to town. A new and mighty ambassador has come to bat for MS4MS for this one, as Red Sox vice president of scouting development and integration Gus Quattlebaum – who was diagnosed with MS three years ago – has eagerly volunteered his efforts.

Through him, MS4MS got a primetime game to showcase their cause. FOX is broadcasting it, and Pizzano says reporter Ken Rosenthal’s “BowTie Cause” bowtie will be orange with the MS4MS image on it.

“(Quattlebaum is) on our team, and he’s awesome … the access he’s allowed us to have is insane,” Pizzano said. “We were able to get an insane price on the (350) tickets in the bleacher section. … Our goal one day is to turn the entire Fenway (Park) orange.”

As of Memorial Day, over 225 of those tickets have already been sold. Attendees wear orange MS4MS shirts to spread awareness, get sponsored koozies, and sponsored batting practice passes are potentially available. Afterward, attendees head to the post-game event in Cask ‘n Flagon’s orange-decorated back room. Pizzano can’t speak highly enough of the partnership with the sports bar, which has made special drink deals linked to the raffles MS4MS runs. It also has a specialty drink themed for the night with proceeds dedicated to the fundraiser, and it has donated a full buffet in the past.

Pizzano can’t speak highly enough of the event’s sponsors, either. He’s stoked for a new partnerships with Wild Sol – Alex Bregman and wife Reagan Bregman’s salsa company – and Flecha Azul Tequila – which actor Mark Wahlberg is associated with. Both have transformed MS4MS’s reach, along with other notable sponsors.

“Their partnership helps amplify MS4MS’s mission to support families affected by MS and contribute to research efforts,” said a MS4MS press release. “MS4MS is also proud to recognize the support of additional event sponsors whose contributions help bring #spreadingORANGE Day to life. Sage Marketing, Loomis Sayles, Kelly Nissan, and Walls of Distinction have each played a vital role in expanding the reach and impact of this year’s initiative.”

That appreciation extends much further than whatever proceeds MS4MS can fundraise to donate, though.

The money is certainly important in funding donations toward research at The Johns Hopkins MS Research Center and UCLA Health MS Research Center, as well as direct support for families impacted by MS. But every event spreads awareness. Awareness brings in more ambassadors – a program that has rapidly grown to have about 36 members, who are especially active in hosting smaller events, spreading the word, and gaining more corporate sponsors.

And within it all, community strengthens everyone affected by MS.

“It gives everybody that’s going through a common struggle a place to find a community,” Pizzano said. “That’s the thing about the ambassador program, is that all the people we hear from, they love connecting with these people that are going through a similar thing. … When they can come together and have a community – that’s just what helps. I know from experience from my mom. It’s tough, mentally, to have to deal with something like that.”

He continued: “Whenever we have a new ambassador, we have a person we’ll invite on as a guest to share their experience at one of our events, and (we) hear how grateful they are about when we give them a scooter, or a wheelchair, or whatever it is. I’ll text (Greenberg) and I’ll be like – excuse my language – ‘This is why we f—— do it.’ It’s amazing. It feels so good because we are making such a positive impact. I will always be willing to put the work in … because I know the impact that it’s having. And we’re just getting started.”

Tickets to #spreadingORANGE Day at Fenway Park, and other ways to contribute to the cause, can be found at https://ms4ms.org/spreadingorange-day-at-fenway-park-2025/.