Go Mud Cats!!! Cheer on the Mud Cats Little League baseball team on Saturday, June 2, 2012 at 4 pm, Edgar Tillet Memorial Park, in Loudoun County, Virginia, when the team plays its annual “Friends and Family” game. This year’s game will focus on carcinoid cancer awareness and the coaches and team members have selected the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation as the charity for which they will raise money.
Travis Carver, coach of the Mud Cats team, is the creator of “Friends and Family.” This special game was inaugurated last year and included the singing of the National Anthem by a local student, hot dogs and popcorn, and raising money for charity. In 2011 “Friends and Family” raised money for the Rally Foundation, in support of research for childhood cancer. Atlanta Braves catcher and five-time All-Star Brian McCann, and his wife Ashley, are actively involved in raising awareness and helping to raise funds for the Rally Foundation. As fellow baseball players, The Mud Cats coaching staff and team wanted to support this very worthy cause and raised more than $1,500 for the Rally Foundation!
Mud Cats players and coaching staff gear up for the June 2 game! Pictured, left to right: Patrick Wyman (Assistant Coach), Callahan “Cal” Wyman (first baseman and catcher), Christian Carver (short stop and second baseman), and Travis Carver (Manager). Go Mud Cats!!
Carcinoid cancer has touched the lives of a family involved with the Mud Cats Little League team and this year they are dedicating their “Friends and Family” game to carcinoid cancer awareness, sharing information with all who attend the game and in the game program. The team will also be wearing carcinoid “zebra” bracelets, pins, and shoelaces!
Why the zebra for carcinoid and neuroendocrine cancer awareness? In medical school, students are told, “When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras.” Physicians are taught to focus on the most likely possibilities when making a diagnosis, not the unusual ones. Sometimes physicians need to look for a zebra. In the rare disease community, the zebra can be carcinoid or a related neuroendocrine tumor (NET), such as a pancreatic NET.
If you would like to support the Mud Cat’s “Friends and Family” game and the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation, you can make donations by check or online with a Visa, MasterCard or American Express: https://www.carcinoid.org/content/contributing-our-foundation. When paying by check, please indicate Runs for Reach in the memo line and if paying by credit card, in the Donations section, choose In Honor of and type in Runs for Reach. Your support is deeply appreciated! 
Our hats go off to the awesome Mud Cats team players, coaching staff, family and friends!!!
Sharing a little piece of baseball history in this wonderful video –“Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” September 1908.
