MLB, PCF Pitch Home Runs In Move To Strike Out Prostate Cancer

By Barry Janoff

June 9, 2025: Raising awareness and funds to support the fight against prostate cancer remains a priority among MLB and its clubs, which will again use the platform of Father’s Day June 15 for multi-level activation.

With the support of MLB, the Prostate Cancer Foundation has initiated the 30th season of the Home Run Challenge, a program that has raised more than $72 million for prostate cancer research since its inception in 1996, contributing to the more than $1 billion in Prostate Cancer Foundation funding since it was founded.

Each home run hit in all games beginning June 1 thru June 30 will raise money to fight prostate cancer.

Every donor that makes a gift to this year’s Home Run Challenge will be entered for a chance to win two tickets to this year’s MLB All-Star Game July 15 in Atlanta. (Details here.)

As in other areas, prostate cancer has impacted the MLB family.

In February, Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs posted he was cancer-free, five months after he revealed that he was beginning treatment for prostate cancer.

This past December, Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg said the prostate cancer he thought had been eliminated by radiation had returned and spread.

This year, Prostate Cancer Foundation will host Home Run Challenge tour stops and awareness days at professional baseball stadiums nationwide to raise awareness about prostate cancer — "the second most common cancer in men" (lung cancer is the leading cancer-related cause of death among men) — as well as funds to support the development of life-saving treatments.

"We are incredibly grateful to the professional baseball team owners for being our steadfast partners in this effort," Gina Carithers, Prostate Cancer Foundation president and CEO, said via the organization.

“The impact of this initiative over the past 30 seasons has been profound, but there is still work to do. Every dollar raised brings us closer to a cure, and we urge baseball fans everywhere to step up to the plate and join us this season in our mission to end suffering and save lives."

In the past 30 seasons, the Home Run Challenge program has visited more than 250 ballparks and engaged all 30 professional baseball teams. In 2024 alone, the Home Run Challenge made stops in 14 ballparks, engaging 21 teams and raising $2.2 million.

More than $1.9 million from those funds were directed toward Prostate Cancer Foundation’s Young Investigator Awards, “which fuel the next generation of prostate cancer researchers. This initiative has transformed the way prostate cancer is diagnosed and treated, and it has helped to fund several FDA-approved therapies, many of which have become standard-of-care treatments for the disease.”

According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Home Run Challenge has “uniquely elevated awareness of prostate cancer, sparking conversations in homes and stadiums across the country among men and their loved ones.

"Supported by decades of research, men diagnosed with prostate cancer today have more treatment options than ever before that significantly improve quality of life and patient outcomes.”

MLB and all 30 clubs continue to champion "Keep Dad in the Game" on Father's Day with specialty caps and other apparel worn during games.

During Father’s Day games, players and on-field personnel will wear the symbolic blue ribbon on their uniforms along with blue wristbands.

Players will wear specially-designed New Era caps to raise awareness and funds for the fight against prostate cancer. The caps will feature blue Club logos along with the symbolic MLB blue ribbon.

Players also have the option to wear Stance multi-pattern blue-dyed socks.

MLB will again donate 100% of its royalties from the sales of specialty caps and apparel emblazoned with the symbolic blue ribbon to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer. 

Commemorative base jewels and dugout lineup cards also will be blue. In addition, equipment that can be used for prostate cancer awareness throughout Father’s Day Weekend include light blue compression sleeves, light blue batting gloves, light blue wrist/elbow/leg guards and catcher’s equipment.

Players and all on-field personnel have worn blue ribbons and sported blue wristbands on Father’s Day since MLB first partnered with the Prostate Cancer Foundation in 1996.

A special Father’s Day prostate cancer PSA video will be shared in MLB and MiLB stadiums nationwide, as well as on MLB.com, club sites and on MLB social media channels in honor of Father's Day and the work done by Prostate Cancer Foundation.

"For 30 seasons, professional baseball teams have stood alongside the Prostate Cancer Foundation in this life-saving initiative," Phillip Koo, M.D., Prostate Cancer Foundation chief medical officer, said via the organization.

Photo: Atlanta Braves"The Home Run Challenge has not only raised millions of dollars for research but has also helped spread awareness of prostate cancer risks and screening among fans, players and communities nationwide.

"Baseball has the power to unite, and through this program, we’re using that power to save lives and Keep Dad in the Game for many more seasons to come."

According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation:

• One in eight U.S. men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime, which is roughly equivalent to one player on the field.

• One man dies from prostate cancer every 15 minutes, or about one person per inning.
 
• Men diagnosed with prostate cancer today have significantly more treatment options than they did when PCF was founded. There are more than 20 FDA-approved therapies today, including five approved in the last five years that were based upon PCF-funded research.

• Men diagnosed in early stages have a 99% survival rate over five years, emphasizing the importance of early detection and screening with a simple PSA blood test.

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