MLB (eventually) does right thing

Posted May 9, 2009 by Marc Lancaster

Updated May 9, 2009 at 01:53 PM

BOSTON—The striking pink shoes had been sitting in the lockers of the Rays players with Reebok contracts the last couple of days. They were black spikes, but everywhere there would normally be white highlights, including the Reebok logo, these shoes were pink instead.

It was the apparel manufacturer’s gesture to what has become one of Major League Baseball’s most popular traditions among the players—hitters using pink bats every Mother’s Day to promote breast cancer awareness, and those bats later being auctioned off with the proceeds going to cancer research.

Perhaps more than anyone in the Rays’ clubhouse, reliever Joe Nelson was excited to wear those cleats for tomorrow’s nationally televised ESPN game. His mother, Paula Rodriguez, is a breast cancer survivor.

“I told my mom, ‘Hey, we got pink shoes and we’re on Sunday night baseball – make sure you watch,’” Nelson said.

Early this afternoon, though, a Reebok rep came through the clubhouse and collected the shoes from the lockers of Nelson, James Shields, Gabe Gross and others. Apparently the charity Reebok had chosen as the beneficiary for the shoes that were to be autographed and auctioned by the players was not officially certified by MLB, so the league had ruled the shoes couldn’t be worn.

Nelson was very upset and called a representative of the players’ union to protest.

“The last time I checked, cancer is cancer,” he said. “If they were going to donate our shoes and someone was going to give money to cancer research, I could care less which one.”

Around 2:30 p.m. today, Nelson got a call back from the union. After a quick consult with MLB, the league had agreed to work out something with Reebok about where the proceeds would go. About five minutes later, the visiting clubhouse manager at Fenway Park walked through the door carrying an armful of pink-and-black shoes.

“We can still wear them, sign them, auction them off, and they’ll figure it out,” Nelson said. “As long as somebody gets the money, I’m fine with it. I’m glad they got it sorted out.”