As my friends know, for the past year I have been running as part of Team McGraw and raising money for the Tug McGraw Foundation -
http://www.tugmcgraw.org/home.asp I was drawn to the Foundation because I am a lifelong Mets fan, have always been a fan of Tug McGraw's, and was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview him shortly before he fell ill with brain cancer. I have been honored to be a part of a team that raises funds to honor Tug's memory.
The back of this singlet is very dense - it contains much more information than you would notice at first glance. Starting from the top -
There is the baseball logo, to commemorate Tug's pitching career with the Mets and the Phillies.
It reads Tug McGraw Foundation, to bring awareness to the organization.
It says, "Team McGraw" in bold letters - he/she who wears this is part of the team.
"Ya Gotta Believe" was Tug's rallying cry - he coined it for the 1973 Mets pennant winning team, and it was later borrowed by the 1980 Phillies World Series championship team.
The brain with sneakers design is the logo for "Joggin for the Noggin," which was a 5K race organized by Jen McDevitt to benefit the Tug McGraw Foundation. Jen was a remarkable woman who ran several marathons with Team McGraw while undergoing chemotherapy for brain cancer. She lost her fight with the disease last fall, and the Foundation will always mourn the loss of our Motivational Coach.
And finally, "Run Jenny Run" was something we used to cheer Jen on. Jen was a big fan of Tom Hanks and Forrest Gump, so this was a perfect rallying cry.
BTW, I will be running the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia with Team McGraw on May 1st. Anyone who would like to contribute to this wonderful foundation can do so here -
http://www.active.com/donate/teammcgrawbroadstrun/tmSChapma No donation is too small (but, of course, no donation is too large either <g>). Thank you.
Ya Gotta Believe!
YGB!