{"id":3019,"date":"2025-01-18T07:17:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T07:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=3019"},"modified":"2025-01-18T07:17:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T07:17:00","slug":"jake_burger_will_wear_no_21_with_the_texas_rangers_for_his_daughter_born_with_down_syndrome-html","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=3019","title":{"rendered":"Jake Burger will wear No. 21 with the Rangers"},"content":{"rendered":"


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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) \u2014 Jake Burger will wear No. 21 with the Texas Rangers, a number that has special significance for the first baseman\u2019s family after his daughter was born with Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

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What You Need To Know<\/b><\/h4>\n
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  • Infant daughter Penelope, who was born Oct. 25, was being held by her mother, Ashlyn, while Burger spoke to reporters before the Rangers\u2019 annual awards dinner Friday night<\/li>\n

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  • The clinical name for Down syndrome is trisomy 21<\/li>\n

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  • Burger credits his wife with the idea of wearing No. 21, and was working to change his number from No. 36 with the Marlins before being traded. The couple got their daughter\u2019s diagnosis last April<\/li>\n

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  • Burger said Friday that his daughter is \u201cdoing great\u201d but has something wrong with her heart that will require surgery at some point during spring training. He plans to leave Arizona to be with his family during the procedure in Nashville<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/h5>\n
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    The clinical name for Down syndrome is trisomy 21, a condition in which a person is born with an extra chromosome, causing mild to moderate cognitive disability, developmental delays and physical challenges.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThis is the first time I can pick a number that\u2019s not just close to my heart, but close to a lot of people\u2019s hearts,\u201d Burger said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s trying to spread awareness and try and get the word out about Down syndrome and how people can get support. I\u2019m just really proud of this number, and really excited to wear this and represent my daughter, but also so many people out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Infant daughter Penelope, who was born Oct. 25, was being held by her mother, Ashlyn, while Burger spoke to reporters before the Rangers\u2019 annual awards dinner Friday night. It was the 28-year-old slugger\u2019s first public appearance with the team since being acquired in a trade from Miami on Dec. 11. Jake Burger\u2019s parents and his 2-year-old son, Brooks, also were there.<\/p>\n

    Burger credits his wife with the idea of wearing No. 21, and was working to change his number from No. 36 with the Marlins before being traded. The couple got their daughter\u2019s diagnosis last April.<\/p>\n

    He said a foundation is being established to help other families impacted by Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe\u2019re really, really excited to push that forward and help as many families as we can,\u201d Burger said. \u201cFor us, we call it the lucky few. That\u2019s families with Down syndrome, with a kid affected with Down syndrome. And that\u2019s how my wife, Ashlyn, and I feel. That\u2019s how Brooks feels as her brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

    In an Instagram post soon after Penelope was born, the couple said Burger was the only active MLB player with a child with Down syndrome, and that they knew God was giving them \u201csome really special work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Burger said Friday that his daughter is \u201cdoing great\u201d but has something wrong with her heart that will require surgery at some point during spring training. He plans to leave Arizona to be with his family during the procedure in Nashville.<\/p>\n

    \u201cShe\u2019s the strongest little person I know, and I know that she\u2019s going to get through that with a breeze,\u201d Burger said. \u201cI\u2019m just praying for her every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The Rangers also this offseason signed free agent designated hitter Joc Pederson, whose older brother, Champ, has Down syndrome. Burger hoped to catch up with his new teammate while in Texas over the weekend.<\/p>\n

    \u201cSeemed like fate a little bit with him signing here,\u201d Burger said. \u201cI love the way he plays the game and how much fun he brings to the game. But not only that, we\u2019re obviously connected way more deeply than that. So I\u2019m really excited to meet Champ. And, you know, he\u2019s another person in our circle that\u2019s going to be there to support us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) \u2014 Jake Burger will wear No. 21 with the Texas Rangers, a number that has special significance for the first baseman\u2019s family after his daughter was born…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nJake Burger will wear No. 21 with the Rangers - Frisco Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jake Burger will wear No. 21 with the Texas Rangers, a number that has special significance after his daughter was born with Down syndrome.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=3019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jake Burger will wear No. 21 with the Rangers - 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