Eileen and Mike Tauchman wanted to find ways to show support.
Following the birth of their daughter Remi, who was born in 2024 with a cleft palate and required a nasogastric feeding tube for the first three months of her life, the Chicago White Sox right fielder and his wife set their sights on reaching other families navigating similar experiences.
The work received recognition Monday when Tauchman was named as the team’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.
“My wife deserves a lot of the credit, sort of the genesis of the idea,” Tauchman said Monday. “And the White Sox were great in helping us execute, using some of their connections.
“But it’s a cause that is deeply personal to us. The support from family, friends, fans, all of the above, it has meant a lot to us.”
The Tauchmans organized a care-package initiative during a Sox home game at the end of June to aid families enduring hospital stays for cleft and other craniofacial conditions.
Chicago White Sox right fielder Mike Tauchman drives in a run on a single in the fifth inning of a game against the New York Yankees at Rate Field in Chicago on Aug. 30, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
The bags included stuffed animals, books and other items for babies; a $20 Dunkin’ gift card and long charging cord for parents; plus essentials for post-surgery care such as lip balm and wipes.
In July, the family launched a fundraising campaign at Lurie Children’s Hospital timed around National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month.
They pledged to match donations up to their goal of $18,000, a nod to Tauchman’s uniform number 18. And donors sending $18 or more were entered into a raffle for a Sox game day experience that featured a meet-and-greet on the Rate Field warning track.
Donations exceeded the mark, with more than $39,000 raised, and are being used in areas such as transportation and meals for families facing a hospital stay.
“Baseball takes up a lot of our time, a lot of our thoughts, just the day in and day out of it,” said Tauchman, a Palatine native. “To be able to be involved with this this year, after we’ve had some challenges as a family this year, to be able to give back to other families that we know have experienced things that we have, it means a lot to me and my entire family.”
The Tauchmans were on the field before Monday’s game as part of Roberto Clemente Day.
“I’m glad they honored (Tauchman),” manager Will Venable said on Tuesday. “Certainly the things he does inside the clubhouse for our guys. The community outreach and the things he’s doing are special and are meaningful to him and his family and impacted a lot of people.
“It’s great when you have people who are making a positive impact in the community but then also taking those same values and applying it in the clubhouse.”
The Roberto Clemente Award is presented each year to the major-league player who “best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field,” according to MLB.
Each team nominates one player. The award winner will be recognized during the World Series.
“It’s a great honor,” Tauchman said. “Obviously, anybody that plays this game knows the story of Roberto Clemente, not only who he was as a player and what he meant to the game in that way, but also as maybe our best example of how to be a better person off the field. He used his platform to help others who weren’t as fortunate as him up until his last days.
“It’s a great honor to be recognized. It’s not something that was a goal, but it’s definitely a great accomplishment.”
The Sox signed Tauchman to a one-year deal last December. In addition to slashing .262/.353/.395 with 17 doubles, eight home runs and 39 RBIs in 89 games entering Tuesday, the 34-year-old has provided a veteran presence for a young team.
“That’s sort of the career life cycle a little bit,” said Tauchman, who has played parts of eight seasons in the majors. “The first couple years, you’re trying to take in everything you can and figure out who you are. This league’s unlike any baseball league in the world. As you navigate through and become a little more comfortable, that’s when you start to share your experiences.
“I had some really great veterans in my career, and being able to share their wisdom — and the one or two things I’ve picked up along the way — when you see a guy struggling with something that you struggled with before, that’s what it’s all about. One day, the Kyle Teels and the Chase Meidroths and the Colson Montgomerys, they’ll be the old guys in the room, and they’ll pass on what they’ve learned. That’s the great thing about baseball, you can trace lessons and history back to the beginning of the game.”