July 9, 2007

C.C. SABATHIA TO HONOR U.S. WAR WOUNDED WITH $500 DONATION FOR EACH STRIKEOUT AT THE 78th ALL-STAR GAME

Star to Represent Strikeouts For Troops to Assist Wounded U.S. Soldiers and Their Families; Both Midsummer Classic Starting Pitchers, Dan Haren and Jake Peavy, Are SFT Contributors

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (July 9, 2007) –Cleveland Indians All-Star pitcher C.C. Sabathia, a three-time All-Star and three-season member of Strikeouts For Troops™, has announced that he will donate $500 to the non-partisan foundation for each strikeout thrown by any American League or National League pitcher during Major League Baseball’s 78th All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 10 in San Francisco -- and Strikeouts For Troops founder Barry Zito will match him.

Sabathia, 26, enters the All-Star break with a 12-3 record for the American League Central-leading Cleveland Indians. He has recorded 119 strikeouts in 133.1 innings pitched and has a 3.58 earned run average. He has posted 1,052 career strikeouts.
Strikeouts For Troops was introduced in 2005 by San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito to assist America’s war-wounded and their families with ‘comforts of home' while they endure their long and often painful rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C; Bethesda Naval Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland; Brooke Army in Sam Houston, Texas; Navy Medical in San Diego, California; and other military hospitals.

“I am thrilled that I will have the chance to represent Strikeouts For Troops at the All-Star Game. The Midsummer Classic is seen by millions of fans around the world, and it will be a fantastic forum for everyone to see the important work that is being done to lend a hand to our nation’s real heroes,” said Sabathia. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think of our brave service members and all they are doing to protect the freedom we have in our great country. I will feel their spirit when I take the mound in San Francisco.”

Since the program’s inception, Strikeouts For Troops has raised nearly $500,000 from Zito’s and Sabathia’s own contributions and those of nearly three dozen players throughout the Major Leagues, as well as fundraising events, and fan donations. One-hundred percent of the money raised is distributed to wounded soldiers and their families.

“At last year’s All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, Barry Zito contributed $500 a strikeout for each strikeout recorded during the game and I am happy to keep the tradition going. I hope the other All-Stars who participate in Strikeouts For Troops will join in by matching our contributions in their respective categories – strikeouts, home runs, hits or RBI,” Sabathia said.

In addition to the assistance provided to soldier’s and their families in need of daily necessities, travel, housing or even paying a bill, contributions also have funded holiday dinners at military hospitals, bought Christmas gifts for military children, and have helped support a family center where kids can stay while their parents tend to their medical needs.

Other 2007 All-Stars who are participating in Strikeouts For Troops are both of tonight’s starting pitchers, Dan Haren of the Oakland A’s and Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres, as well as Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees, Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox and Orlando Hudson of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Strikeouts For Troops is a national non-profit funded by contributions to the “Strikeouts For Troops Fund” at The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. For more information on Strikeouts For Troops, please visit www.strikeoutsfortroops.org.