Former Boston Red Sox pitcher receives kidney donation from a fan

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

By Nicole Townsend

Thanks to a life-saving organ donation, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Jeff Plympton and a fan will forever be connected.

In 2009, Plympton learned that he had polycystic kidney disease. A genetic disease that
his mother and grandmother had as well. After retiring from Major League Baseball, the former Boston Red Sox pitcher created “Crush,” a youth baseball program, where he met his kidney donor, Mike Roche, reported WJAR.

Plympton told WJAR, “He looked right at me and said, What’s your blood type?” He
responded, “I’m O-negative, too, and I’ll give you my kidney.” Roche spent many months undergoing testing in Rhode Island Hospital, and on March 4, he finally donated his kidney to his hero.

“I’m not going to lie to you, we wanted to get it done quickly, so we could both be out
here for baseball season and to prevent dialysis, obviously,” stated Roche.

“If anyone can understand what he went through to do what he did for me, it’s
incredible. It really is,” stated Plympton.

Plympton grew up playing baseball in Plainville. In 1987, he was drafted by Boston, and
in 1991, he reached the majors. He spent the entirety of his career in the Red Sox
organization.