Will Ferrell to play every baseball position on 10 teams for HBO special

Before his comedy career, Will Ferrell was an accomplished athlete, playing football, soccer and basketball in school. Now he’s getting a chance to expand his skills on Thursday by traveling to Major League Baseball’s spring training in Arizona and playing every on-field position (and then some) for 10 different teams in five games in one day.

The stunt will be filmed for an upcoming HBO special produced by Funny or Die. It’s all in the name of raising money for cancer research. The equipment used by Ferrell will be auctioned off, with proceeds being donated to Cancer for College and Stand Up to Cancer.

Ferrell is doing the stunt to honor Bert “Campy” Campaneris, the former Kansas City Athletics ball player who played every position for the team in a single 1965 game against the California Angels.

Campaneris is expected to be in attendance at the games Ferrell plays in.

Though the special won’t air on HBO for a while, fans can still follow Ferrell’s exploits through social media with the hashtag #FerrellTakesTheField.

Ferrell’s schedule is as follows:

12:05 p.m. -- Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics (HoHoKam Stadium, Mesa)

1:10 p.m. -- Chicago Cubs at Angels (Tempe Diablo Stadium)

2:10 p.m. -- Cincinnati Reds at Arizona Diamondbacks (Salt River Fields at Talking Stick)

4:05 p.m. -- San Francisco Giants at Chicago White Sox (Camelback Ranch, Phoenix)

6:15 p.m. -- Dodgers at San Diego Padres (Peoria Stadium)

Ferrell’s last special for HBO was his George W. Bush one man show, “Will Ferrell: You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush,” in 2009.

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