Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer

Nominations for the 2012 Phillies Honorary Bat Girl Being Accepted Now!

For the fourth consecutive year, Major League Baseball and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s largest breast cancer organization, are inviting fans to participate in their Honorary Bat Girl contest in an effort to recognize baseball fans who have been affected by breast cancer and demonstrated a commitment to fighting the disease.

Fans are encouraged to nominate someone they know who is going to bat against breast cancer in their daily life today at www.HonoraryBatGirl.com, a website powered by MLB.com.  Entrants will be asked to submit their story or the story of someone they know as well as an optional photo.  The contest ends on April 5, 2012. 

During MLB’s annual Mother’s Day national day of recognition, each Honorary Bat Girl will be honored during an on-field ceremony and receive pink MLB merchandise and two tickets to the game. The Phillies will recognize their Honorary Bat Girl prior to the Stroehmann’s Mother’s Appreciation Day game against the San Diego Padres on May 13 at 1:35 p.m.  Women fifteen and under will also receive a Phillies women’s scarf that day.  Tickets are currently available at www.phillies.com.

Last year’s winner, Linda Camerota of Brigantine, NJ, was selected for her story of inspiration and strength.  She was one of the thirty winners, one for each MLB Club and represented all breast cancer survivors and those fighting against the disease. Camerota was among more than 1,500 entrants and selected by more than a half-million fan votes on www.HonoraryBatGirl.com and a panel of celebrity judges. 

Honorary Bat Girl Program

The Honorary Bat Girl program was introduced in 2009 to raise additional awareness and support for the annual Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer initiative celebrated on Mother’s Day. In three years, nearly 4,000 testimonials have been submitted and more than six million fan votes have been cast. Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer is a joint partnership between MLB, its licensed partners and Susan G. Komen for the Cure to raise awareness about the breast cancer cause, while also raising funds to support breast cancer research.

Major League Baseball Health Initiatives

The Mother's Day Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer program is one of several cancer-related initiatives supported by Major League Baseball. Other initiatives include Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), whose mission is to support the groundbreaking scientific research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated timeframe; the annual Father’s Day celebration, in support of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, which helps increase awareness of prostate cancer and raise money for the search for a cure; and Play Sun Smart, a league-wide, skin cancer awareness program in conjunction with the Major League Baseball Players Association and the American Academy of Dermatology.