Nola’s Strikeouts

🔥 The Brushback

Every Strikeout Means Something to Aaron Nola

Aaron Nola makes $24 million a year throwing a baseball.

He gives some of it back for a reason far bigger than the game.

Last season, he pledged $1,500 for every strikeout and ended up donating $145,000 to ALS research.

For Nola, the pledge is personal.

His uncle, Alan Andries, battled ALS for six years before dying in 2021.

He watched what the disease did — not just to his uncle’s body, but to everyone around it.

The helplessness that sticks with you long after the hospital visits end.

ALS changed Nola’s family.

“That specific area of work with ALS hits a little bit harder to me because of my uncle,” Nola said.

That’s the origin of Strike Out ALS.

Every fifth day, every punch-out becomes a small push against the thing that took someone he loved.

This isn’t about writing a check.

Or following a script.

Or posing for that photo.

It’s a contribution tied to grief.

Nola understands that.

“We’re human beings longer than we are baseball players,” he said.

ALS research remains underfunded.

But Nola’s donations continue.

When the work matters more than the credit.

When the strikeouts add up to something bigger than a box score.

— Box