Stand Up To Cancer - Ralph Witt 09/15/1937 - 12/04/1985 - My father and My Hero!

A few nights ago all 3 of the major networks participated in Stand Up 2 Cancer. The opening of the show came from US Cellular Field in Chicago however to me it is still the New Comiskey Park. It was probably one of the most emotional hours of my life. On December 4^th, 1985 my father died of stomach cancer. The hardest part was the fact that he had only found out he had cancer in late August of that year.

As a child I grew up going to baseball games in Chicago with my family. It was thanks to my father that I became a "Ballhawk." My father, Ralph Witt, was a freelance photographer and a huge baseball fan. He was well liked by the players that he came in contact with on the field and was friends with some of them off the field.

In the mid 70's he would take us to baseball games in Chicago and Milwaukee. In fact my first memory of my father getting a baseball was at County Stadium in Milwaukee. He caught a ball during BP off the bat of Hank Aaron while holding onto my brother!

The bad part of that story is that a couple of years later my brother and I needed a ball to play with and we new right where a baseball was. We got the ball off the top shelf from our parent's bedroom and took it outside to play with it and then proceeded to lose it.

Fortunately our father was not that mad at us and only yelled for a few weeks about it!

 In 1977 our family started going to White Sox games every weekend as my father bought the weekend plan of season tickets. My father also became with Mike Veeck who was the son of White Sox owner Bill Veeck. Mike got my father press credentials so that he could take photos on the field. With that we were going to a ton of baseball games every summer.  That is when my obsession with baseball and chasing baseballs really began. Old Comiskey Park in Chicago was truly our second home with us spending anywhere from 40-50 days/nights a summer there during the late 70's and early 80's. Then we ended up getting season tickets on both sides of town. At that point we were attending 65-90 games or more each year!

In August of 1985 my father was diagnosed with cancer and began his chemo and radiation treatments. He did not attend another game even though the White Sox made a gracious offer to him. The White Sox extended an offer to my father and our family to sit in the owners box however my father simply said no thanks. It seems as if he was afraid to go back to the stadium. 

I remember late in the 85' season getting a ball hit by Darryl Strawberry at Wrigley Field. After the game I went to the hospital to see my father where he was undergoing some more tests and his treatments. I said to him, "Hey Dad, I brought you something for your birthday!" His birthday was only a few days away and I handed him the ball that I caught. I could see the tears well up in his eyes and it broke my heart to know that he might not ever see another game in person. 

As the time went by he got sicker and sicker, but the notes and letters that came in were awesome. At one point, Murray Cook, the GM for the Expos sent him an actual Major League Contract that had him on the disabled list. The reason given for him being on the DL was the torture of Chicago baseball teams coming so close and then falling apart. Murray Cook was a relative of our 5th grade teacher and he became friends with dad after setting him up with media credentials in 82 in Pittsburgh where he worked at that time.

On December 5th, 1985 my father passed away and a few days later we held the funeral. It was truly amazing to see all of the people that turned out. Well over 200 people came to the funeral and probably more to his wake. For the family the great thing was knowing so many people loved my father. Another really cool thing was the fact that the White Sox sent a wreath for his funeral as well as a couple of MLB front office executives. My father was 48.

My Dad is truly my HERO! It was really hard seeing him go through the ups and downs of treatment. He felt great one day and like crap the next but he knew that he had lived a good life and that if it was his time to go then that is the way it was!

 If you know someone with cancer take the time to find a charity to donate something to. Whether it is money or just taking the time to visit kids with cancer I hope that everyone realizes that Cancer affects everyone in some way!

For the rest of the season I will personally donate $10 for every ball that I catch and $50 for each Home Run that I might catch. I will make the donation in my fathers name to SU2C.org

I CHALLENGE ANYONE, players, MLBloggers, Front Office executives and even my friends and family to even make the smallest pledge of $1 for every ball that I catch the rest of the 2008 season!! I will add your donations to mine and it will all be sent in memory of my Father!!

Thank you and STAND UP TO CANCER!!