Soliciting Votes: Breast Cancer Honorary Bat Girl Contest

[Redsfaithful]

Hopefully this is ok, my wife's aunt passed away several years ago of breast cancer, and her daughter is taking part in an essay contest to be an honorary bat girl this year on Mother's Day. You can see her story here:

http://www.mlb.com/enterworkflow.do?...rder=NICKNAME2

Not sure that that URL will stay current, so I might need to update, but her submission is under the name "Rounding 3rd ..." and is on top of that URL at the moment, here's her essay:

I inherited my love of the Cincinnati Reds from my mom, Martha, who was a life-long fan. She spent childhood summers attending games with her cousin, listening to Marty and Joe on the radio, and checking box scores in the newspaper. She loved the Big Red Machine, the Nasty Boys, and the #8, worn on the jersey of her favorite player, Joe Morgan. When I was four years old, my mom and dad took me and my brother to the first of many Reds games at Riverfront Stadium. Nearly every following summer was spent visiting Cincinnati three or four times, staying in a hotel across the river, and walking across the Roebling Bridge to the games. Great American Ballpark opened its doors in 2003, giving my mom one summer to enjoy the new park and our favorite team before she passed away in 2004. At the age of 46, my mom lost her six year titanic struggle with breast cancer. After two remissions in six years, the third time proved too aggressive. Although she fought bravely, she died on October 24, 2004 only four short months after the cancer returned. Before passing away, she shared with my dad her sadness at knowing she would miss the major life events of her children, including my prom, graduation from high school, and start of college. Inspired by the nurses who gave my mom the love, hope and compassion she needed to continue her fight until the end, I decided to pursue a degree in nursing, and am currently in my second year at Capital University. Because of my mom’s devotion to the Cincinnati Reds, her passion lives on through me and my family. Just as my mom’s lucky number was 8 for Joe Morgan, mine is #17 for Chris Sabo, and my brother’s is #11 for Barry Larkin. My siblings and I still prefer to listen to a game on the radio thanks to my mom introducing us to Marty and Joe’s broadcasts as kids. May 10th, 2009 is not only Mother’s Day, it will also be my 20th birthday. I have dreaded the combination of these two days for the past five years, but now I can think of no better way to honor my mother, a great reds fan, than to be the Cincinnati Reds/Susan G. Komen bat girl in the “Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer” celebration. .

There's a judged part of this, but a portion comes down to voting, so if you have a moment it'd mean a lot if you could toss a vote her way. Thanks for any help you can give!

[RFS62]

Vote cast.

She sounds like a great kid.

[KittyDuran]

Voted... She's on page 19 (now) searching by fav team (alpha) so its after the endless BoSox and Cubbie entries. Good story, too!!!

[RedsFan75]

voted as well.

[Handofdeath]

She got my vote. That was a damn good piece of work.

[SunDeck]

Done- I hope she wins!

[Roy Tucker]

Voted for - a very worthy story.

I continue to be amazed at all the different types and shapes and sorts of Reds fans.

[PedroBourbon]

Originally Posted by SunDeck

Done- I hope she wins!

Ditto

[Reds Fanatic]

Just voted for her. If you are sorting by team name her entry is now on page 25.

[Eric_the_Red]

Another vote added!

[Chip R]

Let's sticky this thing.

[rotnoid]

Done.

Best of luck to her.

[Redsfaithful]

Thanks so much everyone, and thank you for the sticky Chip, it's all very much appreciated!

[Redsfaithful]

Link update too, I believe this should work (user name Rounding 3rd):

http://www.mlb.com/enterworkflow.do?...ortOrder=VOTES

Page 11, second from the top if sorting by votes, or:

http://www.mlb.com/enterworkflow.do?...sortOrder=TEAM

Page 25 if sorting by team.

Thanks again everyone.

[RedsBaron]

Done. Good luck.