Yonder Alonso honored for chance to use pink bats

PHILADELPHIA -- First baseman Yonder Alonso spent his first Mother's Day in the Major Leagues and had the chance to swing a pink bat for the first time against the Phillies on Sunday.

"It's awesome," Alonso said before the game. "I grew up watching guys swing pink bats and wanted to do that. It's an honor. It's for a good cause."
Alonso was one of three players to use the bats Sunday, as outfielder Chris Denorfia and shortstop Jason Bartlett did as well. Mark Kotsay would have, but he was sidelined with a lower-back injury that he suffered Saturday.

Since 2006, Major League Baseball has celebrated Mother's Day at home ballparks as a platform to raise awareness of breast cancer in the interest of prevention, treatment and a cure. Hundreds of players were expected to use pink Louisville Sluggers, stamped with the MLB breast cancer awareness logo.

"When I got the bats, the first thing I did was take a picture of them and sent it to my mom and dad," Alonso said. "I told them how proud I was to use them."

Reliever Andrew Cashner even got into the act Sunday, not with a pink bat but by wearing pink cleats from Under Armour.


(mlb.com)