LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Do not adjust your TV screen Sunday. In most cases, there won't be a need to check the lineup card, either.
Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers will still be swinging a bat emblazoned with the nickname: "KEMPMAN." The big guns from coast to coast, players from Derek Jeter to Joey Votto to Troy Tulowitzki to Andre Ethier, will still be swinging their signature bats.
They'll just be pink.
For the sixth consecutive year, players across Major League Baseball will use pink bats — as well as wear pink wristbands, shoes, tape and other accessories — on Mother's Day. It's part of MLB's "Going to Bat Against Cancer" program to raise funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
In the basement of the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory in downtown Louisville, where they've been turning lumber into bats since 1884, the assembly line process for the pink bats is the same. The smell of freshly cut maple is the same. The specifications for each player's bats are the same.
About all that was different over the past two or three weeks for the newly cut and shaped bats was a dip in the pink paint and some priority shipping. Teams playing on the West coast this weekend needed to get their pink bats first, providing time to get things fixed just in case something wasn't right. And the folks at Louisville Slugger had to do some projecting and guessing for which starting pitchers might be in need of a bat in National League games.
"We don't just send a bunch of generic pink bats and make them choose," said Chuck Shupp, Louisville Slugger's director of professional baseball. "That wouldn't go over well. These guys have their weapons of choice."
Each pink bat is still personalized to each player's specifications; in a few cases, players known to change bat sizes on the fly get a couple of each. Shupp's job for nearly 30 years has been to get into major league clubhouses and make sure his clients are getting quality products from Louisville Slugger.
"At first I was a little skeptical about them swinging a pink bat, but the guys are fine with it," Shupp said. "It's a good cause, and I think they like it. They're creatures of habit and a lot of them are superstitious, so if it works they might wonder about using the pink bat again the next day.
"I tell people I deal with good guys and they're appreciative. It's just when they're getting hits, they're a lot easier to work with."
Shupp estimated 750 pink bats were made and shipped for around 300 players — almost three times as many as volunteered in the first year of the program, 2006.
Per company policy, those who have contracts with Louisville Slugger get their signatures emblazoned on the barrel, just up from a ribbon supporting the fight against breast cancer. A "born-on" date is branded on the bottom of the handle.
Reds outfield Jonny Gomes chose to have his pink bats emblazoned with "Mama Gomes" as a tribute to his mother.
"It's a tribute to her, to mothers everywhere and to people fighting breast cancer everywhere," Gomes said. "I think it's the least we can do to bring attention to a great cause."
The bats are auctioned off after they're used via MLB.com. More than $1 million has been raised so far.
"I remember last year I gave my mom a call that morning and told her I was going to save that bat for her after the game," Reds outfielder Drew Stubbs said. "She lit up when she saw it. She thought that was great."
Along with the pink bats, all 30 teams will use pink lineup cards Sunday, and all on-field personnel will wear pink wristbands and pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness on their uniforms. The pink ribbon logo will appear on the bases and on commemorative home plates. Each team will also have an honorary bat girl dressed, naturally, in pink.
Some memorable moments have been provided on past Mother's Days. Bill Hall hit a walkoff home run to win a game for Milwaukee in 2006 with his mother in the stands. Torii Hunter hit a pair of homers the next year, and last year Alex Rios' 4-for-4 day included a home run.
"It's great to represent for the moms and for everybody fighting breast cancer," Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips said. "I hope everybody uses that pink bat to go out there and get some knocks and represent. If not, my mom's coming after you."
