This Sunday, a number of major leaguers will celebrate Mother’s Day by using pink bats, which will later by auctioned off to benefit breast cancer research. But despite their desires to do so, Baltimore’s Nick Markakis and Minnesota’s Trevor Plouffe will not be allowed to participate.
Markakis and Plouffe had hoped to use pink-labeled bats manufactured by MaxBat Inc. to honor their mothers, both of whom are cancer survivors. But although there are no restrictions on pink bats, the only pink-labeled ones allowed by Major League Baseball are those produced by Louisville Slugger. Markakis was informed of the league’s ruling before Friday night’s game against Plouffe’s Twins, according to The Baltimore Sun.
“It would mean a little more to me with my mom being a breast cancer survivor and be able to support her in that way. So I guess you could say it is a little disappointing. But I guess the rules are the rules, right?” the outfielder told The Sun’s Dan Connolly. “If I said something [to MLB] would it really make a difference? No, I doubt it. Is what it is. You’ve got to abide by the rules, right?”
Plouffe originally voiced his own disapproval of the league’s decision via Twitter, but later deleted those tweets. He tweeted this an hour prior to first pitch in Minnesota:
[tweet https://twitter.com/TPlouffe24/status/332994776624427009 align=’center’]
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan, several other players were also informed they would not be allowed to use pink-labeled MaxBats, including Boston’s Jonny Gomes.
[tweet https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/332971891281231873 align=’center’]
Photo via Twitter/@MaxBatBaseball
