Barnes fundraises for cancer research with T-shirts

HOUSTON -- Astros high-flying outfielder Brandon Barnes is raising money for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation by selling T-shirts that he helped design.

The shirts, which have a pair of hands wearing baseball gloves in prayer with the hashtag #belief on them, are available through Sept. 29 at www.athletesbrand.com. The shirts, which also come in a women's style, are available for $30, a portion of which helps kids fight cancer.

This cause has extra special meaning for Barnes, whose younger stepbrother battled neuroblastoma when he was about 11 months old. At 13 months old, his stepbrother underwent a serious surgery to remove a tumor about the size of a grown man's fist. Thomas French is now a healthy 19-year-old in California.

Barnes was approached by a friend about designing the shirts and sat down with him at a coffee shop and came up with the design. They had it touched up by a professional artist and the T-shirts were then produced for sale.

"My little stepbrother was diagnosed at a young age," Barnes said. "It's impacted me a lot being able to watch him grow up and live a full life. It's something I feel I need to do to raise awareness, because I have an opportunity to do it."

Barnes posted pictures on Twitter earlier this year with A's players Eric Sogard, Seth Smith and Brandon Moss wearing the shirt, and did the same when Angels were in town with Mike Trout, Howie Kendrick and C.J. Wilson donning the shirt in an effort to raise awareness.