To pay tribute to his mother, Diane Plouffe, a cancer survivor, Twins’ third baseman Trevor Plouffe hoped to use a bat with a pink logo on Mother’s Day for breast cancer awareness.
FOX Sports North reports Plouffe uses a MaxBat instead of a Louisville Slugger, which, according to a contract with Major League Baseball, is the only company that’s allowed to distribute pink bats with a logo for use on the field.
If Plouffe and the team were to use the special bats on Sunday against the Orioles, MaxBat could face a fine.
“It’s not really about raising brand awareness. It’s more about raising awareness for the cause,” Plouffe told the television station.
MLB says players can use pink bats or partially pink bats by any manufacturer if the company makes a modest donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, but no logos can be displayed.
Baltimore Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis, who’s mother is also a cancer survivor, is a MaxBat user as well and will be at Target Field this weekend. But, Markakis said he wasn’t going to make an issue of the decision, the Baltimore Sun reports.
