Former White Sox slugger Adam LaRoche, who retired last month after the team asked him to dial back the time his son, Drake, spent in the clubhouse and on the field, says his decision was motivated in part by his efforts to rescue underage sex slaves in Southeast Asia.
LaRoche and friend Blaine Boyer of the Milwaukee Brewers spent 10 days in November conducting surveillance in brothels through the organization the Exodus Road, he told ESPN's Tim Keown.
“What are we doing? We’re going back to play a game for the next eight months?” LaRoche asked Boyer when it was time to leave.
Boyer believes something bigger was at work during the trip.
“You can’t explain it. Can’t put your finger on it. If you make a wrong move, you’re getting tossed off a building. We were in deep, man, but that’s the way it needed to be done,” Boyer told ESPN. “Adam and I truly believe God brought us there and said, ‘This is what I have for you boys.’ ”
LaRoche, 36, who played in the majors for 12 years, was named as a board member for the organization months before he announced his retirement.
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Adam LaRoche said his son Drake “was the exception to the rule,” and a special presence in the clubhouse.
During the past few years, his son, 14, was a consistent presence around the clubhouse.
“I always knew it could get shut down at any point. You could have a manager who just flat doesn’t like it. You can have players complain — Hey, we’re tired of having a kid around,” he told ESPN. “There’s a chance we could have other guys see Drake and think, ‘I’ll bring my kid, too.' Obviously we can’t turn this into a daycare. I get it.”
But LaRoche thought his son was different: “the exception to the rule,” he said.
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