OAKLAND -- The Yankees have joined the other 29 teams across Major League Baseball in an effort to raise prostate cancer awareness by wearing special Father's Day weekend jerseys, caps, wristbands and more.
Part of the efforts will also include the annual Prostate Cancer Foundation "Home Run Challenge." Fans have the chance to make a one-time monetary donation or pledge for every home run hit by their favorite MLB team between June 1 and Father's Day. Some teams have also pledged a dollar amount for each home run hit during the Home Run Challenge period.
All money collected by the Home Run Challenge will go to PCF to fund critical research to defeat prostate cancer. The Home Run Challenge has raised over $45 million for PCF since inception.
MLB will donate all royalty payments from the sales of specialty caps and uniforms to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer. During this weekend's games, blue compression sleeves, blue batting gloves, blue footwear, blue wrist/elbow/leg guards and catcher's equipment can also be used.
Players and on-field personnel have been wearing blue ribbons and blue wristbands on Father's Day since MLB first partnered with the Prostate Cancer Foundation in 1996. This is the first year that MLB is also using a blue-stitched Rawlings baseball, as the official game ball.
Overall, PCF has raised more than $700 million for prostate cancer research, which has resulted in helping bring six prostate cancer medicines to patients. Every 20 minutes, a man in the U.S. dies from prostate cancer. For more information about PCF, please visit PCF.org.