Major League Baseball today announced the 30 Honorary Bat Girls who will represent each MLB Club in support of the annual “Going To Bat Against Breast Cancer,” an initiative commemorated each Mother’s Day to raise awareness and money for research. All 30 MLB Clubs selected their respective honorees, each of whom have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the battle against breast cancer. Each Honorary Bat Girl will be recognized during their club’s pregame ceremonies on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12nd. Clubs on the road will select another home game to recognize their Honorary Bat Girl.
For the first time since the Honorary Bat Girl program’s inception in 2009, MLB has partnered with CrowdRise by GoFundMe to host a fundraising contest for each of the Honorary Bat Girls to raise money to benefit Stand up to Cancer (SU2C) and Susan G. Komen. The winner of the contest will receive a trip to the 2019 World Series. MLB will donate all funds from the contest to SU2C and Komen.
Each of the Honorary Bat Girls winners’ stories can be found on MLB.com/HonoraryBatGirl.
As has been tradition since 2006, players will continue to swing pink bats and sport pink wristbands through the “Going To Bat Against Breast Cancer” initiative, which is intended to raise awareness and, through donations and auction proceeds, funds to fight breast cancer. In recognition of this effort on Mother’s Day, players also will wear specially designed New Era caps highlighted by a pink crown and team color brim, while Club uniforms will feature the MLB breast cancer awareness logo, adorned with the symbolic pink ribbon, on the left chest. A matching pair of pink socks made by Stance is optional for every player. MLB players will continue to have the opportunity to use pink bats during Mother’s Day games. Louisville Slugger, the Official Bat of Major League Baseball, will donate proceeds from the sale of their pink bats, which will also be stamped with the MLB breast cancer awareness logo, to Komen and SU2C. In addition to the pink bats on Mother’s Day, the following game equipment can be used for breast cancer awareness: compression sleeves, batting gloves, footwear, wrist/elbow/leg guards, and catcher’s equipment. The pink ribbon will also appear on the bases at each ballpark and the official dugout lineup cards. MLB will donate 100% of its royalties from sales of licensed apparel with the MLB pink ribbon logo to Stand Up To Cancer and Susan G. Komen.