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Since playing together with the Atlanta Braves in the early 2000s, Adam LaRoche and Blaine Boyer remained close.
Most recently, Adam was with the Chicago White Sox, and Blaine was a pitcher with the Kansas City Royals.
Now both retired, they believe they've been led to something bigger than baseball.
“We love to talk about the fact that when we played baseball that it was what we did, not necessarily who we were,” Adam told FOX 26.
Who they are is something Adam and Blaine would find out during a mission trip to Thailand in 2014. They spent time with an organization working to rescue victims of human trafficking.
“We didn’t really know what we were getting into,” recalled Blaine.
“A friend of ours had moved over there and this what he was doing full time. This was his mission,” said Adam.
Soon, it would become their mission, too. When they returned to the U.S., they got to work but this time, off the field.
“It was just kind of one of those moments in your life where you’re just, I don’t want to say at crossroads, but now that I’ve seen what we’ve seen, now what are we going to do about it,” explained Blaine.
Eventually, they found DeliverFund, a non-profit that trains law enforcement on ways to combat human trafficking.
Last month, the organization helped with a week-long sting operation in the Houston area. FOX 26 got exclusive access inside the command center. Adam and Blaine came to shadow investigators and learn more about how to combat the crime.
“The [officers] we were running around with today are just unbelievable,” said Blaine. “You're heartbroken because you know what's going on but then you're also incredibly encouraged.”
They agree their new mission in life is more fulfilling than their former careers.
“There was a lot more important things and more important platforms that God kind of had laid out for us,” concluded Adam.
To report human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.