NewsMariners use off-day for a good cause
Annual charity golf tournament benefits cystic fibrosis research
By Christian Caple / MLB.com
06/22/09 8:57 PM ET
NEWCASTLE, Wash. -- Days off in between home games are rare for Major League baseball players, who usually spend off-days traveling and rarely get the chance to relax during the season.On Monday afternoon at The Golf Club at Newcastle, several Mariners players used one of those off-days as an opportunity to raise money for cystic fibrosis research during the team's annual Mariners Care Golf Tournament to benefit Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
For Mariners left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith, who cohosted the event with reliever Mark Lowe, it's all about helping out any way he can.
"Any time they ask me to be a part of something like this, I'm going to put my hand up straight away," Rowland-Smith said. "It's a good cause, and it's good that everyone's out here doing this."
Rowland-Smith couldn't play golf himself due to an injury, but several of his teammates, along with members of the organization and Mariners fans, played in the scramble format tournament, which has become one of the highest profile cystic fibrosis research fundraisers in the state of Washington.
The tournament -- which also includes a dinner and silent auction once the golf is done -- has raised more than $4.2 million for cystic fibrosis research since its inception in 1986. Dottie Moore, executive director of the Washington chapter of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, said that they expect to raise at least as much this year as they did at last year's event, which ended up grossing close to $200,000.
None of it would be possible without the Mariners' help, and they've already been a part of a growing advancement in the quality of cystic fibrosis medication. Moore said that the life expectancy for someone with cystic fibrosis -- an inherited chronic disease that effects the lungs and digestive system -- in 1999 was about 19 years. It has since increased to 37.
"It's just a pleasure that the Seattle Mariners baseball team embraces this event," Moore said. "The difference they make in the lives of those with cystic fibrosis is very compelling. We appreciate their time, their leadership and their financial commitment."
The players in attendance seemed to enjoy it, too. Even in the clubhouse before Sunday's game against Arizona, guys could be heard joking and teasing each other about how they'd fare on the golf course. As important as this event is for cystic fibrosis research, it's also a chance for Mariners players to relax on an off-day and have fun on the golf course.
"It's a fun thing," Rowland-Smith said. "Everyone was talking about it for a while. This is a beautiful golf course. It's nice to come out here and hang out with my teammates."
This was Lowe and Rowland-Smith's first year hosting the event. Raul Ibanez and J.J. Putz filled that role last season.
One of the tournament's more notable icons over its 24-year history, former Seattle right fielder Jay Buhner, was also in attendance.
"Scott Bradley and Scott Bankhead got me involved back in 1990, and they got traded away and I kind of took it over with Randy Johnson," said Buhner, who also added that his golf game "stinks," and that he doesn't get a whole lot of chances to play now that he's coaching his kids' baseball teams. "It's a tournament that basically runs itself. There's so many great people, so many people behind the scenes that make it all possible and so many people with great hearts that want to help find a cure."
Buhner, one of the more beloved players in franchise history, understands how rare it is for Major Leaguers to get an off-day in between home games. But the fact that players come out to the course for this tournament, he said, shows their dedication to fighting the disease.
"When you finally get a chance to be at home, for them to come out for one of those and spend a day out here rubbing elbows with people, signing autographs and making themselves available, it says a lot," Buhner said.
It does a lot, too.
"The money improves the medications, which improves the quality of life," Moore said. "It's actually buying science that buys life."
Christian Caple is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
