Striking Out Cancer in Berkshires Holds Sunday Party Before June 27 Games
This year, it also is bringing Smiley.
A day of community baseball and softball games that act as a fund-raiser for the Jimmy Fund is the brainchild of Joe DiCicco, who has expanded the event’s footprint over the years and seen a steady growth in money raised as a result.
This year’s games are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on June 27 on Buddy Pellerin Field at Clapp Park.
But the festivities begin this Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Sideline Saloon on Fenn Street, where DiCicco invites families to come down, free of charge, to take photos with a Boston Red Sox World Series Trophy and meet Boston mascot Wally the Green Monster and Smiley, the mascot of the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox.
“It’s just a little way to give back to the community to start the week,” DiCicco said. “Last year, we had the trophy for the first time, and they want to bring it back, so that’s a good thing. Wally is different, and so is Smiley.”
What has not changed is DiCicco’s dedication to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund, inspired by Einar Gustafson, a child who beat cancer with the help of Dr. Sidney Farber in 1948 and shared his story with the world under the name Jimmy to protect his anonymity.
“Too many people we know are involved with cancer, have cancer, have relatives with cancer,” DiCicco said recently. “I lost my wife to cancer and lost a couple of good friends this year.”
It was his wife’s death that inspired DiCicco to hold the first Striking Out Cancer in the Berkshires event in 2021. And, as he tells it, that could have been one of the last.
“For the first three years, I was wondering if this was even worth it,” DiCicco said. “The first year, we made about $3,000. The second year, it might have been $3,500.”
But by Year 4, that number ballooned to $10,000, and last year, the event raised a record $14,000, bringing its five-year total to more than $40,000.
“So we’re headed in the right direction,” DiCicco said.
Some of that comes from the $10 donation players pay to participate in the games – loosely structured affairs where players can play as many innings as they choose. A lot of the money comes from the event’s raffle.
Tickets for the raffle are two for $5, five for $10 or 10 for $20, and the prizes include tickets to sporting events ranging from an August Red Sox game at Fenway Park to the Springfield Thunderbirds hockey team. Tickets to the WooSox, Tri-City ValleyCats in Troy, N.Y., and Hartford (Conn.) Yard Goats also are up for grabs.
New this year to the prize pool is a homemade Red Sox-themed quilt donated by a local longtime supporter of Striking Out Cancer in the Berkshires.
“It’s beautiful,” DiCicco said. “She comes down to our [after game] party at the Sideline on Saturday night every year. For five years, she’s been involved that way. She just called me in February and said, ‘I’m going to make a Red Sox quilt.’ I was shocked. That’s a lot of work.”
No registration is necessary to participate in the baseball and softball games at Clapp Park on June 27. But anyone looking for information about Striking Out Cancer in the Berkshires can reach out to DiCicco at jdicicco7@aol.com or 518-390-2512.
