Reliever Blaine Boyer made the Brewers’ roster after signing as a minor-league invitee to camp in February. Credit: Getty Images

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St. Louis — Milwaukee Brewers reliever Blaine Boyer knew there was risk involved when he and close friend Adam LaRoche went overseas to try to free underage girls from the hellish world of sex slavery.

But that's how strongly the two major-league baseball players felt about trying to make a difference.

"It was a life-changer," Boyer said Thursday before the Brewers played the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. "It's something Adam and I are going to do for the rest of our lives."

The story of the remarkable mission by Boyer and LaRoche was first reported by ESPN The Magazine in an article that centered on LaRoche's dramatic decision to retire from the Chicago White Sox this spring. LaRoche thought he had an understanding with the club that 14-year-old son Drake could accompany him to the ballpark every day and opted to walk away from his $13 million salary when asked to cut back on that work time together.

In that accounting, Boyer and LaRoche revealed they were involved with Exodus Road, a non-profit organization that supports targeted interventions and rescues of young people being used as sex slaves across the world. Boyer became acquainted with founder Matt Parker and introduced him three years ago to LaRoche, leading to the decision by the players to become personally active.

"His whole organization, their ministry, was extremely compelling, obviously," said Boyer, a 34-year-old veteran who signed with the Brewers in the off-season. "You talk about modern-day slavery, I think anybody would feel a pull or a tug to that. That was the initial reaction.

"Both of our families supported Exodus Road (financially), and then (Parker) asked us, 'Do you guys want to get involved?' So we got involved. It was an incredible experience with a group that's just absolutely amazing, what they're doing."

Boyer and LaRoche made the extraordinary decision to spend 10 days overseas in brothels last November, looking for underage girls to free from sex slavery. The magazine piece identified the specific area of the world, but Boyer asked Brewers beat reporters not to repeat it because he fears reprisals from the criminal element running those operations.

"We're all over — literally all over the world," said Boyer, who has a wife and two sons. "The sex trafficking world is not just in one, small location, it's all over the place. The Exodus Road ministry is wherever that is, all over the map."

Understandably, Boyer did not provide specific details of the overseas mission. But there was real danger if he and LaRoche were discovered carrying hidden cameras or found to be there for the purpose of freeing young girls from the sex trade.

"If you make a wrong move, you're getting tossed off a building," Boyer said in the magazine piece.

"Without getting too specific, we're looking for minors, people that might be held against their will," Boyer said Thursday. "That's probably all I want to elaborate on that, but that's the mission. To locate them, find them, and ultimately get them out."

Asked if he and LaRoche were successful in freeing minors from brothels, Boyer said, "I certainly hope so. We get the outcomes, get the reports. That's a testament to a lot of the government officials, the police, the department of justice in that particular country.

"Exodus Road is just one small, small part. An important part, but just one small part. It's a huge mission with a lot of working parts. There's a bunch of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that work together. It's not just Exodus Road in this fight.

"There's a ton of really good organizations like IJM (International Justice Mission), Hope for Justice, Love146. There are so many anti-trafficking NGOs and government entities out there doing good work."

Boyer said "there was definitely training involved" to prepare the duo for their mission. He indicated others were involved in making the trip happen but no other baseball players.

Boyer understands the interest people have in this story is that two major-league baseball players felt compelled to put their lives and careers on the line in an effort to save minors from sex slavery in areas across the world. But he explained it was an easy choice for the two to make.

"The simple answer to that is it has everything to do with our faith and God," he said. "I feel like we were compelled, and I feel like there was a stirring in our hearts. This is a fight that's going on.

"If Adam and I were to sit on the sidelines, I think there would be a way bigger issue. That's sitting on the sidelines rather than getting in the fight. I think anybody that was faced with what was going on and seeing what was going on, they would act accordingly.

"It's not like this was a total secret. It's just not something we were going around broadcasting."

Boyer made it clear he and LaRoche, who is currently traveling in an RV on an extended vacation with family, plan to stay involved with Exodus Road. That means more secretive and dangerous excursions across the world in an effort to free minors from sex slavery.

"This is something we're in for the long run, in whatever capacity it may be," he said. "We're in this. It was completely life-changing."