Jeremy Affleldt teams with Not For Sale
Human trafficking and global slavery are issues that may seem far from the minds of most major league baseball players, just as they may be far from the minds of many academics. But remarkably, when Jeremy Affeldt — now a world champion — was traded to the San Francisco Giants a couple of years ago he had already heard of the work of USF School of Business and Professional Studies professor David Batstone, the founder of Not For Sale —a global campaign to fight the slave trade throughout the world. Affeldt sent off an email to Batstone asking how he could help.
Batstone was surprised to get the message, but welcomed Affeldt, and the Giant’s lefty reliever has become “a key part of our campaign.”
" ‘He's a campaign participant and friend more than just a baseball star," Batstone said. ‘It's been a cool thing to watch happen. It shows you don't have to be a certain kind of person to be involved in trying to right what's wrong in the world. You don't have to be a 'social justice nerd.' You can do great things by connecting your passion to creating a better world.’ “
Affeldt has donated both his time and his money to Not For Sale to combat the $32 billion slave trade industry.
“ ‘When asked what inspires interest in such issues, Affeldt turns to his Christian roots and ideals.
‘I have a job that tends to be self-centered, because we're kind of our own contractors and it's performance-based,’ he said. ‘So I'm trying to perform at my best and beat the next guy, because I want to beat the next guy and make a bunch of money to have for my family and me for a long, long time.
‘But it gets really old to live in a selfish job. Money and fame is silly to me. Once you get it, you realize it's not very fulfilling. So I'm trying to figure out how I can think about other people.’ “
“The Not For Sale website provides grades for various products and companies so that people can make informed purchasing decisions. It also serves as the place where people can make pledges to donate for each Affeldt strikeout or Holliday homer through the "Free2Play" project, which is like fantasy baseball for ethicists.”
Read the complete article on MLB.com: Affeldt's impact extends further than the mound
