Originally published Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Mariners' pitcher Miguel Batista treats young fan to a special day at the park
An afternoon in the batting cage with Mariners pitcher Miguel Batista was something Pat Pedraja had eagerly awaited for weeks. The 12-year-old baseball and...
Seattle Times staff reporter
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — An afternoon in the batting cage with Mariners pitcher Miguel Batista was something Pat Pedraja had eagerly awaited for weeks.
The 12-year-old baseball and hockey fanatic, who lives in the Tampa Bay area, needs things to look forward to. It's how he takes his mind off the grueling chemotherapy sessions he undergoes for the leukemia he was diagnosed with two years ago.
Sometimes, it's chemo and then a promised movie. Or, like last Monday, as the poison filled his veins, it was his Wednesday afternoon baseball date with Batista that kept Pedraja's spirits high.
"It helps me stay positive," he said.
When he isn't getting treated for his cancer, Pedraja is busy planning cross-country campaigns to raise awareness about the need for more bone marrow donors to help leukemia sufferers. It began last year, when he traveled with his family around the country in an RV, helping to sign up 6,000 additional donors to the national registry. His work earned Pedraja the CNN Heroes Viewers' Choice Award last year and enough attention that he's planning an international leg to his Driving for Donors campaign in Australia this summer.
Not the kind of stuff usually associated with seventh graders. But Pedraja has already seen 10 other cancer patients he knew die because of bone marrow donor shortages.
"It's too many," he said. "There are too many people dying because they can't get a donor."
Pedraja, whose father is Cuban, is especially sensitive to the fact there are markedly fewer donors for minorities.
"That's why I focused on signing minorities up last summer," he said.
Pedraja and Batista met recently in Los Angeles while both were guests on a local Spanish-language television talk show.
"There were three guests and he was the third to come on," Batista said. "He was just so interesting to listen to talk and to hear about what he was trying to do. I talked to him about it afterwards and told him we should meet again when we came to play here."
Batista took Pedraja into the visiting clubhouse, where he met most of the Mariners and talked to them about his campaign. He went on to the field with Batista and took some ground balls, then into an indoor batting cage, where they worked on his swing.
![]()
"Just hold it this way," Batista told Pedraja after some initial swing attempts, prodding him to lift his elbow more. "This should help you do better."
Later, Batista introduced him on the field to buddy Carlos Peña of the Tampa Bay Rays. Peña took Pedraja inside the Rays' clubhouse where he repeated his donors' pitch all over again.
Information about Pedraja's program is available at www.drivingfordonors.com.
"They've all been great," said Pedraja, too weak from his chemotherapy to play organized sports like he used to. "It's just been awesome getting to do something like this."
Pedraja's mother, Claudine Andrews, said her son came up with the idea of a donor drive after seeing a woman, Greek Gray, who ran a foundation to help fight leukemia, interviewed on television. The cross-country bone marrow drive began soon after, with Andrews often driving the RV. Their initial goal was to sign up 2007 new donors in the 2007 calendar year. When they more than doubled that and the CNN award was announced, the letters, interview requests and e-mails poured in from around the word.
"He really discovered he has this gift to inspire people," she said.
Andrews said her son's treatment has gone well and that his cancer is expected to go into full remission, where he wouldn't need a bone marrow donor. Pedraja has run the gamut of emotions since his March 2006 diagnosis after being treated for long-term swelling in his joints that was first thought to be juvenile arthritis.
"I was shocked," he said of the cancer diagnosis. "It didn't really hit me until the next day. You're just scared. You don't know what to do."
In many ways, his cross-country work has helped take his mind off some of those fears. The way looking forward to an afternoon with Batista helps him get through a chemo session.
"It can be tough, but I try to stay positive," he said. "I love doing this. It's like my job. My duty as someone who could need a donor someday. We've gotten so many e-mails from a lot of kids and people who want to do drives in their countries. I'm going to do everything I can to help them."
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Mariners to try Dustin Ackley at second base
Vizquel close to signing contract with White Sox
Tracy, Scioscia win Manager of the Year awards
Former Mariners manager John McLaren is glad to be back in the dugout
Scioscia, Tracy named managers of the year

LA Galaxy's David Beckham
Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham talks about the upcoming MLS Cup final during after a team practice.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helen's and Astoria, Ore.
- Italian lead prosecutor argues Knox motive was hatred
- Italian prosecutors request life sentence for UW student
- Man shot in chest on E. Union Street in Capitol Hill
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Tugboat sinks in Seattle's waterfront
- Mariners Blog | A Mariners-Tigers swap makes a whole lot of sense for both teams
- Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
- Senate vote clears hurdle
234 - Mariners add six to 40-man roster
149 - Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle
119 - Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
113 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
107 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
102 - Prosecutor requests life in prison for Amanda Knox
86 - Cutting through breast-cancer confusion
82 - Game thread
68 - New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
48
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Nonprofits get creative using Twitter and Facebook to make donation easier
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
- Great places to cross-country ski for free (or almost) in the Methow
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helen's and Astoria, Ore.
- Recipes: Sesame Pork Roast, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce and more
- Banff: powder, peaks & purity
- 175 foster kids in Washington get 'forever families'








