TAMPA — Pete Fairbanks of the Tampa Bay Rays throws a pitch in the ninth inning during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at George M. Steinbrenner Field on August 2, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)
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Pete Fairbanks and his wife, Lydia, have been through a lot, and they have responded by giving much of their time and energy to benefit causes that have tremendous meaning to them. Because of what they have done and continue to do in the Tampa Bay region, the Rays’ closer is a nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.
The award is given annually to the player “who demonstrates the values Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others.” It is a nomination the 31-year-old Fairbanks does not take lightly. The winner will be announced during the World Series.
“He left behind a legacy of doing what Lydia and I feel is kind of expected of us,” he said of Clemente. “To be someone that others recognize (for the award), obviously, is very humbling and is a great honor. To be in this situation, to give back to the causes that we feel passionate about, it is something that is instilled in us. We will do our best to continue to do that with or without being a nominee for an award like this.”
Turning personal tragedy into a good cause is something the Fairbanks’ did through the Strikeouts for Ellis campaign. They lost daughter, Ellis, to a miscarriage as a result of Turner Syndrome in the winter following the 2023 season. The couple, who are parents to son, Isak, and daughter, Lotte, began donating $100 for each strikeout with the Rays Baseball Foundation contributing a matching sum. Along with the team’s annual community day to support the Turner Syndrome Foundation, close to $60,000 has been raised in support of the cause.
“Any time that we are hit with hardships, it is not going to be easy,” said Fairbanks. “How do we take these hardships? How do we grow from them?”
Answers come, in very large part, through helping others, including those that endured similar personal loss.
“That was something that was great for us,” he said of meeting and helping one particular couple. “The ability to give back and help those who have also been impacted is something that can make the best of the worst, and something that we are very proud of.”
The Fairbanks’ created the Pete’s Sneaks initiative in 2023 with the goal of making sure less fortunate students begin the school year with a new pair of sneakers. Along with other Rays players and their families, the couple has also given much time to the Ronald McDonald House in St. Petersburg by preparing meals for residents who are living away from home while their children receive pediatric care.
Fairbanks, who is in his seventh season with Tampa Bay, has also participated in the Reading with the Rays program. His mother was a fourth-grade teacher and librarian, and his mother-in-law a middle school math teacher. Hence, visiting a local elementary school to help kids with their reading skills is an experience that he not only enjoys, but comes rather easily.
“I am comfortable in the classroom,” he said. “That’s stuff I grew up doing and definitely have a passion for.”
Lending two helping hands at a time of need for the larger community is another way Fairbanks has given back. He was at Tropicana Field with Rays staff and volunteers from Feeding Tampa Bay, which provides assistance in a 10-county area, distributing food and emergency supplies to affected families.
Regardless of what Fairbanks is doing to help others, each and every cause is of tremendous value to him and Lydia.
“They all have their place, whether it is helping people that were impacted by something that impacted all of us, or something that maybe people experienced but don’t talk about as much,” he said.
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