Miami, FL (June, 2009) — While the Milwaukee Brewers were in town to face the Florida Marlins, one of the Brewers’ coaches, Willie Randolph, took time to pay a special visit to the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI), a center of excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Randolph, a six-time major league All-Star and former manager of the New York Mets, toured the DRI alongside longtime friend and former New York Mets coach Rob Dromerhauser. Dromerhauser flew in from Long Island with his wife, Mary, and son, Connor, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes three years ago at age 9.
Recently, Dromerhauser created the Pitch for a Cure Foundation in cooperation with former Mets pitcher Ron Darling, who also has a son with diabetes. Amidst their search for research projects to support, they heard about the DRI, the most comprehensive research facility of its kind, and eagerly planned a visit.
Upon arrival, the group met with DRI Foundation President and CEO Robert A. Pearlman and Vice President Tom Karlya, as well as several scientists at the DRI including Dr. Jay Skyler, Dr. Norma Sue Kenyon, Dr. Luca Inverardi, and Dr. Juan Dominguez-Bendala, among others.
After learning about the cure-focused projects these renowned researchers are working on, the impressed visitors decided that Pitch for a Cure will help support them.
“I am confident we will do great things together,” Rob Dromerhauser said.
Tentative plans include partnering on a major fundraising event with a baseball theme, involving former and present baseball greats, sometime in 2010.
