Cleveland fans say thanks to the Rockies’ Hunter Goodman with donations to his favorite Denver charity

Rockies fans didn’t get a playoff race this September, but it turns out Hunter Goodman could still swing one. Now kids across the Denver area are getting new school clothes out of it.

On Saturday night (sept. 26) in Chicago, Goodman hit two home runs, including a three-run shot in the ninth inning, as the Rockies beat the White Sox 9-6 at Rate Field. That loss knocked Chicago out of the American League Central race and handed the Cleveland Guardians their third straight division title. Cleveland also beat the Royals 11-5 in Kansas City the same night, but for Guardians fans, the Rockies catcher was the hero. The two homers gave Goodman 41 on the season. He was easily Colorado’s best player this year and spent most of the summer in trade rumors, but he stayed a Rockie long enough to decide a pennant race anyway. Even Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti joined in: “I’m a huge Hunter Goodman fan. I always appreciated him prior to tonight, but tonight kind of put him over the edge. So we might send him a thank you note.”

Cleveland fans had a better idea than a thank-you note. They flooded the Rockies’ social media with gratitude, then started asking whether they could donate to a charity of Goodman’s choice. The Guardians’ social team contacted the Rockies’ social team, and the answer came back: Clothes to Kids of Denver, a nonprofit Goodman and his wife, Sydney, have been supporting. More than 300 donations came in from Guardians fans in the first 24 hours, and the total has passed $7,000, with more still arriving Monday. The charity posted on X that “your thanks for @HunterGoodman35 will help thousands of kids get the clothes they need to succeed,” and tagged it #ClevelandROX.

Since 2008, Clothes to Kids of Denver has given free school wardrobes to students ages 3 to 21 from low-income or in-crisis families across the 11-county Denver metro area. Each wardrobe has 21 or more pieces of clothing. The group gives out more than 15,000 wardrobes a year and nearly 140,000 since it started. If you’re a Rockies fan who wants to add to Cleveland’s total, you can donate at clothestokidsdenver.org.