Way To Go, Major League Baseball Sluggers

It's been a very emotional and trying week for me, faithful readers.  With working overtime at work the past three days and dealing with life, it's been a rough week for me.  But I was tickled pink (pun intended) this afternoon when I read something from the Fox Sports site.  Major League Baseball has granted permission for baseball players to use pink bats this Sunday, on Mother's Day, for breast cancer awareness.  And best of all, these pink bats have been made right here in the 'Ville at our beloved Louisville Slugger factory.

This Sunday, you'll be able to see sluggers like Derek Jeter, our previous Louisville Bats turned Cincinnati star Adam Dunn, David Ortiz and many many others using pink Louisville Slugger bats.  The bats were made available to any player that wanted to use them this Sunday, and only 50 of the players are going to be using them.  It takes a big man to swing a pink baseball bat in a major league game, and all of the players honoring the women are extra big men.  A lot of the players had their mothers' or grandmothers' names engraved on the bats instead of their own names, and some had female relatives' names engraved as well.  In all, over 400 pink bats are being made for this Sunday's games. 

The Louisville Slugger factory started making the bats last week. Players were still placing orders as of yesterday, and bats will probably be made and shipped overnight until Thursday or Friday.  The bats posed something of a logistical problem for Louisville Slugger. Each player uses a different model and size, so coloring, branding and shipping them for Sunday's game has been a challenge.

Along with the pink bats, players and all on-field personnel will wear pink wristbands and a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness on their uniforms. The pink ribbon logo will appear on the bases and on commemorative home plates, and the lineups will be written on pink cards.  The bats, along with the home plates and lineup cards, will be autographed by the teams and will be auctioned off later with the proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Foundation.

I know my Mom will be watching Major League Baseball games this Sunday afternoon, and hopefully she'll get to see her beloved Derek Jeter hit one out of the park using his pink Louisville Slugger.