April 10, 2006

Barry Zito And Friends Celebrate First Year Of Strikeouts For Troops With Celebrity Bash Fundraiser

OAKLAND, CA (April 10, 2006) – Barry Zito, pitcher for the Oakland A’s and founder of Strikeouts For Troops™, a unique program began in 2005 to help our war wounded soldiers and their families, will be celebrating the first anniversary of the national program on Thursday, April 20th with Barry Zito’s Strikeouts For Troops Celebrity Bash. The event will be held from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. at the Pyramid Alehouse, 1410 Locust Street, in Walnut Creek and is presented by Pyramid Alehouse, 95.7 MAX FM, Wasserman Media Group, and Fox Sports Radio.

Joining Zito for the event, which will include celebrity bartenders, a buffet, live auction, raffle and autograph opportunities, will be an impressive lineup of Huston Street, Nick Swisher, Joe Blanton, Oakland Raiders’ offensive tackle Barry Sims and more. (Please note: celebrity appearances subject to change)

Strikeouts For Troops raised $137,775 in 2005 by contributions for 1,438 strikeouts, 740 hits (including 86 home runs) and 362 runs batted in from participating pitchers and position players and fans. The program directs all funds to individual troops to assist them in providing some comforts of home -- paying for basic daily necessities or travel and housing expenses for family members to visit the soldier during his or her rehabilitation process at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital.

“It was the fans who sent in money and e-mails of support and cheers from the stands that took us over the top in our first year. I look forward to thanking them in person and getting our program off to a good start in 2006,” said Zito.

For the 2006, Zito has announced that several new players will be joining the effort, including World Series MVP Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox, Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox, Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves, and Jake Peavy and Shawn Estes of the San Diego Padres.

They join returning players Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox, Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves, CC Sabathia and Matt Miller of the Cleveland Indians and many more. Zito has also pledged to increase his personal contribution by $100 to $200 per strikeout.

A limited amount of tickets are available to the Celebrity Bash for a $60 contribution per person and can be purchased at www.strikeoutsfortroops.org. Corporate sponsors include, Chase Chevrolet of Stockton, FSN Bay Area, Oakland A's, Brenden Theaters, and Printsight.com.

Strikeouts For Troops is a national project funded by contributions to the "Strikeouts For Troops Fund" at The Community Foundation For the National Capital Region. Strikeouts For Troops is a non-partisan program developed for the sole purpose to honor U.S. service members and assist our war wounded by helping to provide "comforts of home."