FORT MYERS, Fla. — As a starting pitcher in the Minnesota Twins' minor league system, Travis Adams knows the importance of performing when something is on the line.
But on Monday, the 24-year-old Adams had to attack something a bit more impactful than an umpire's ball-and-strike-zone, instead breaking into a burning home in Fort Myers to help save an elderly man.
NBC 2 in Fort Myers reports that Adams was staying in a home on Arlington Street to take part in Spring Training workouts when he heard "a pop," looked out the window and saw trouble across the street.
"Hey, the whole house is on fire," the pitcher told one of his housemates.
Adams ran out where a group of neighbors had gathered. They knocked on the front door and tried to open it but were unable to, due to what fire investigators call "extreme hoarding conditions."
"I think we ended up kicking the front door in a little bit, but there was so much stuff blocking the front door that there wasn't any way to get in," Adams told reporters.
One of the neighbors feared that the owner, an 82-year-old man they called Howard, was still inside. Adams knocked down a section of fence in the backyard, pushed the rear door open and, with help from fellow rescuers, pulled the elderly man from the burning home.
The homeowner wasn't injured, but a Fort Myers firefighter suffered first- and second-degree burns putting out the flames.
Travis Adams is a 24-year-old righthanded pitcher, who was selected by the Twins in the 6th round of the 2021 MLB Draft. He spent last season in Wichita throwing for Minnesota's Double-A minor league affiliate.
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