Baptist Health and the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are teaming up in April to strike out testicular cancer

Starting this April during National Testicular Cancer Awareness Month, Baptist Health and the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are launching a campaign to raise awareness about urological cancers, with a specific focus on testicular cancer, which most commonly affects men between the ages of 15 and 40.

“Some health issues can be uncomfortable for people to discuss, so we want to make it easy to learn about testicular cancer,” said Ken Babby, owner of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. “What better place than the ballpark to raise awareness of how you can ‘catch’ testicular cancer early, which makes all the difference.”

Babby was diagnosed with testicular cancer at Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center in April 2023 after he noticed an unusual lump. Thanks to early detection and treatment, he was back in the ballpark in short order, but he kept thinking about what he could do to help others.

“Ken approached us to explore how the Jumbo Shrimp could team up with our clinical team to raise greater awareness about testicular cancer,” said LeeAnn Mengel, BSN, vice president and administrator of Baptist MD Anderson. “His idea was that together, we could do more to ‘strike out’ cancer in our community and beyond.”

The collaboration led to an April Cancer Awareness Campaign anchored by two “family fun-day” home games for the Jumbo Shrimp on Sunday, April 14 and Sunday, April 21 and also includes the five home games during the week of April 15.

The festivities will kick off at the ballpark starting at 2 pm on Sunday, April 14 with:

• Giveaways, an education station, and more throughout the game, including a pregame family catch on the field with all kids getting to round the bases following the game.
• Firetrucks on display prior to the game, allowing attendees to meet members of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue team and learn how first responders serve our community.
• Opportunities for attendees to join Ken Babby and the Jumbo Shrimp in donating $5, $10 or $25 to Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center to benefit urologic cancer patients. Each donation during the game will be matched by the Jumbo Shrimp.

For more information, visit go.baptistjax.com/shrimp.