The old adage of, "He would give you the shirt right off his back" was evident recently at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf as Southern Maryland Blue Crabs fans expressed their passion for their favorite player and raised $6,400 to help fight breast cancer. As part of the team's second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Night, Blue Crabs players wore pink jersey tops and used pink bats. Dozens of fans bid on these one-of-a-kind items through the end of the fifth inning of Saturday's second game of a double-header. When the game ended, and as the total was announced to the crowd of over 5,300 fans, the players took off their jersey, autographed it, and turned it over to the high bidder. Civista was the game's presenting sponsor.
Hospital officials will earmark half of the auctions' proceeds to local breast cancer survivor groups. The dollars will be used for grassroots activities to further spread the word about the dangers of the disease. The other half of the money will be going to the Brandon Greening Foundation for Male Breast Cancer. In September of 2007, Brandon, who works locally as a driver for UPS, was diagnosed with the disease more typically associated with females. Rather than sit idly by, Brandon and his wife Connie decided to fight back and spread the word that men can get breast cancer too. They established a foundation and use football as the way to spread their message to a predominately male audience. For many years Brandon has coached football in Calvert County.
Blue Crabs Manager Butch Hobson said that he and all the members of the team were more than willing to paint the park pink for this popular promotion. Hobson said "My guys all have moms, wives, sisters, or girlfriends too. Many families have been touched by breast cancer in some form or fashion." Hobson added, "Last year, when we used the pink bats we won that game 14 to 1. Hopefully the good luck will continue into the playoffs." Unfortunately, the Blue Crabs came up short in the nightcap of Saturday's twin-bill. The Crabs lost to the Somerset Patriots by a 3-2 final score.
Between the two games, a group of breast cancer survivors, including one local woman who has been cancer free for 50-years, received a standing ovation at home plate from Blue Crabs fans. On cue the women released several dozen pink helium filled balloons into the night sky honoring those who lost their battle to breast cancer. According to figures from the American Cancer Society over 40,000 American women die each year from the disease, making it the second deadliest form of the disease in women, surpassed only by lung cancer.
Blue Crabs General Manager Chris Allen said, "The success of our two silent auctions this past weekend are indicative of the true colors of the fans that we are so fortunate to have. Friday night our fans stepped up and gave over $5,400 to support the Charles County Hospice House. On Saturday, fans dug deep into their wallets again, this time raising $6,400 to fight breast cancer. That's close to $12,000 in only two days. All of us associated with the Blue Crabs thank the people of Southern Maryland for this great support. It's humbling and it shows what being a supporter of Crustacean Nation is all about."
• Discuss this story on the Atlantic League message board...
• Digg this story
• Add to Del.icio.us
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.