Major Leaguers Team Up To Strike Out Cancer

What began as an idea to use the month of September as a vehicle to raise awareness in the battle against pediatric cancers has turned into a reality for Colorado Rockies reliever, Jason Motte.

Since he came up with the concept three years ago, dozens of Major Leaguers have joined Motte’s effort to raise money and awareness to help strike out various forms of cancer. And it was recently announced that Major League Baseball has picked up this idea and will commemorate childhood cancer awareness month with a special day on September 2.

Motte began his quest to Strike Out Cancer in 2013 and, as part of his efforts, began to raise money and awareness for the cause through the sale of K Cancer T-shirts. Along the way, other Major Leaguers joined the effort by adopting cancer-related causes of their own to support. Each participating player’s tee features a big backwards ‘K’ — the baseball scoring symbol for when a player strikes out looking.

Fans who have purchased the T-shirts are encouraged to wear them to a Major League game on Strike Out Cancer Day, which will be on Friday, September 2nd. Players around the Majors will be in their T-shirts on the way to the ballpark, in their clubhouses and after their games to bring attention to the initiative.

With the ongoing support of the Major League Baseball Players Association and ballplayers around the league, K Cancer has raised over $450,000, and is looking to hit the million dollar mark by the end of this season.

“I’m honored by the support my fellow Major Leaguers have displayed in joining the Jason Motte Foundation’s effort to strike out cancer,” Motte said. “What started out as a ripple of awareness in St. Louis a couple of years ago has turned into a tidal wave of international support to help eradicate this horrible disease. I want to thank the players for standing together in support of this initiative, as well as 108 Stitches and fans everywhere for doing their best to help strike out cancer.”

Each team is supporting a different charitable organization dedicated to fighting cancer, as recommended by each team’s MLBPA player representative. Fans are asked to join in supporting the cause by purchasing these high-quality T-shirts at www.108stitches.com .

Proceeds from every T-shirt sold are being split between the Jason Motte Foundation and the charity selected by each team’s player representative.

 

Below are the Major League Players participating in the K Cancer campaign.

John Axford; Brandon Barnes; Dellin Betance; Zach Britton; Jarred Cosart; Jacob deGrom; Spanky Eaton; AJ Ellis; Danny Espinosa; Yan Gomes; Alex Gordon; Jason Grilli; Billy Hamilton; Derek Holland; Daniel Hudson; Craig Kimbrel; Jon Jay; Jon Lester; Evan Longoria; Martin Maldonado; Colin McHugh; Mark Melancon; Wade Miley; Jason Motte; Aaron Nola; Daniel Norris; Trevor Plouffe; Anthony Rizzo; Hector Santiago; Drew Storen; Hunter Strickland; Kolten Wong

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