An attorney who practices in Beverly Hills and was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer when she was 29 years old will be the Los Angeles Dodgers honorary bat girl Sunday.
Jessica Krouner will throw a first pitch before the game against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium.
Each of the 30 Major League Baseball teams selects an honorary bat girl, each of whom has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the battle against breast cancer.
The bat girls are honored by teams with home games on Mother’s Day. Teams playing on the road on Mother’s Day honor their honorary bat girls on another date.
For the first time, the honorary bat girls are competing in an online fundraising contest to raise money to benefit Stand up to Cancer and Susan G. Komen.
The winner will receive a trip to the 2019 World Series. MLB will donate all funds from the contest to SU2C and Komen.
Krouner raised more than $10,000 as of Sunday morning since the contest began on Tuesday.
Following her diagnosis last spring, Krouner has undergone five surgeries, six rounds of chemotherapy and six weeks of daily radiation.
MLB began the honorary bat girl program in 2009 to support the annual “Going To Bat Against Breast Cancer” initiative which is commemorated on Mother’s Day and seeks to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer.
During games on Mother’s Day, players wear specially designed caps highlighted by a pink crown and team color brim. Uniforms feature the MLB breast cancer awareness logo, with the symbolic pink ribbon, on the left chest.
A matching pair of pink socks is optional for every player.
Many players will use pink bats. Pink Louisville Slugger bats will be stamped with the MLB breast cancer awareness logo. Players can also wear pink compression sleeves, batting gloves, footwear, wrist/elbow/leg guards and catcher’s equipment.
Louisville Slugger will donate proceeds from the sale of the pink bats to Susan G. Komen and Stand Up To Cancer.
The pink ribbon will also appear on the bases at each stadium and the official dugout lineup cards. MLB will donate all of its royalties from sales of licensed apparel with the MLB pink ribbon logo to Stand Up To Cancer and Susan G. Komen.
Stand Up to Cancer is an effort to accelerate innovative cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly.
Susan G. Komen describes itself as the world’s largest nonprofit source of funding for the fight against breast cancer.