The Arizona Diamondbacks today announced Will Ferrell will be at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on March 12, participating in a once-in-a-lifetime role for the lifelong baseball fan, as production begins on a new special from Funny Or Die, in partnership with Major League Baseball, to air exclusively on HBO later this year.
Dedicating the project to the fight against cancer, Ferrell is also honoring the historic feat by Bert Campaneris five decades ago by playing every position on the field and maybe some off the field for 10 different teams in the same day.
“We are excited to see will take the field for us,” said D-backs Manager Chip Hale. “We hear he’s been taking this seriously so we fully expect Major League caliber play from him while he’s in our uniform.”
A list of the games at which Ferrell will be playing is below:
March 12 (all times subject to change)
12:05 p.m. – Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics (HoHoKam Stadium)
1:10 p.m. – Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Tempe Diablo Stadium)
2:10 p.m. – Cincinnati Reds at Arizona Diamondbacks (Salt River Fields at Talking Stick)
4:05 p.m. – San Francisco Giants at Chicago White Sox (ss) (Camelback Ranch)
6:15 p.m. – Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres (Peoria Stadium)
Ferrell’s goal is to honor “Campy” Campaneris while also helping organizations dedicated to fighting cancer, including Cancer for College. Formed in 1993, Cancer for College is a charity that helps individuals adversely affected by cancer to realize their dream of a college education.
An important part of the fund-raising efforts will be game-used memorabilia from Ferrell’s journey across the five ballparks to be auctioned online later in the year on MLB.com with proceeds being donated to Cancer for College as well as Stand Up To Cancer, a groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research. MLB is the founding donor of Stand Up To Cancer.
Ferrell’s historic day will be chronicled in the exclusive HBO special which will air later this year and also feature MLB players, managers, coaches, executives and fans. Fans can follow along live and on-demand throughout the day across MLB Network, MLB.com, dbacks.com and the official accounts on social media platforms.
On Sept. 8, 1965, Campaneris, in only his second Major League season, went 0-for-3 playing all nine positions for the Kansas City Athletics in a game against the California Angels. Campaneris is expected to be there with Ferrell as he begins his journey tomorrow.
The D-backs agreed to move the start time for tomorrow’s game against the Reds to 2:10 p.m. This adjustment from the original 1:10 p.m. time slot was to accommodate a request by Major League Baseball as part of the collaboration with HBO and Funny Or Die to film the project tomorrow.
Tickets are still available for tomorrow’s game by calling 480.362.9467 or online at dbacks.com/spring.