LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers joined all of Major League Baseball on Friday in raising awareness for childhood cancer with a special Childhood Cancer Awareness Day.
The team's guest of honor was four-year-old Nathan Flores of Culver City, a Cedars-Sinai patient who has been battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and is now in remission. Flores, joined by his family on the field before the game, threw out the first pitch and announced "It's time for Dodger baseball!"
Another cancer survivor, 13-year-old Jaden Muñoz of Pasadena, will be on hand Saturday to attend batting practice and meet players with his family.
Dodgers players, including Kiké Hernandez, J.P. Howell, Clayton Kershaw and Joc Pederson, have visited pediatric patients throughout the season at Cedars-Sinai, the official medical center of the Dodgers. Hernandez also recorded a video to be added to to a league-wide Stand Up to Cancer campaign on Sept. 9.
All MLB players, coaches, umpires, and grounds crews wore gold ribbon decals and wristbands to promote awareness.
"Advocating for the health and well-being of young people affected by this terrible disease is a cause that Major League Baseball and our clubs are proud to support," said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. "Through our league-wide effort, we will join Stand Up to Cancer and many organizations dedicated to this fight in a unified demonstration of our sport's commitment to ending childhood cancer."