Pretty in pink: Navs to sport color for charity

LYNN – No one will be able to say the North Shore Navigators aren’t a generous bunch after they give up the shirts off their backs during Sunday’s Real Men Wear Pink game.”Those boys are so much fun and such great sports,” said Cheryl Matsubara from The Pink Angels.The Pink Angels were formed in 2005 to participate in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day breast cancer event and have been together ever since, with the common goal of raising money for breast cancer research.The Navigators are teaming up with the angels for the Real Men Wear Pink event Sunday where players don pink jerseys for charity.”There will be a silent auction for the shirts during the seventh inning,” Matsubara said. “Then the winning bids will be tallied and the shirts will be awarded on the field after the game.”Matsubara said the winning bidders will be called onto the field, the player wearing their shirt will come out, take off the shirt, sign it if they want and hand it over.”The players will take the shirt off their back, literally,” she said with a laugh.Pink Angel and Ward 1 Council candidate Deb Plunkett, a cancer survivor, will throw out the first pitch, and another survivor will sing the National Anthem, Matsubara said.Local band The Dirty Floorboards will kick off the event with a short pre-game concert, and Matsubara said she will also have HOPE, the pink ribbon car designed to raise awareness, on the field.”I’m going to drive the pink car around the bases,” she said.It was a chance meeting at a Stadium Commission meeting that set the whole program in motion.In June Matsubara attended a commission hearing seeking permission to set up an informational table solely for the purpose of raising awareness, not funds.”We’re looking to promote the issue, especially with student athletes,” she said. “We would like do more with the kids.”Navigators General Manager Bill Terlecky happened to be at the same meeting.”I’m jumping out of my chair over here because I would love to do something to help you,” he told Matsubara during the hearing.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said at the time that Terlecky was becoming a real Lynner.”You saw a place where you could help out and you jumped in,” she said.Matsubara said that as she left that hearing, Terlecky followed her down the hall and reiterated his desire to help her fundraise and offered to host the pink jersey game.”He got the uniforms, we’ve met some of the boys,” she said. “They cheered the walkers in on the third day of the Susan G. Komen event and they went on a swan boat ride with us.”Matsubara said they took photos of the boys doing their best runway walks, which will be on display for the silent auction.She is hoping for a good turnout for the event and should get one. Due to a rain out a St. Mary’s night at the Navigators was rescheduled also for Sunday. Matsubara said St. Mary’s Head of School Grace Cotter Regan said she would wear a pink shirt in honor of the event when she heard they would be there on the same night.”I hope a lot of people come,” Matsubara said. “They should. It’s a really fun venue over there.”The game will pit the Navigators against Old Orchard Beach, first pitch will be thrown at Fraser Field, 365 Western Ave. at 5 p.m. and for every $5 ticket purchased half will go to the Pink Angels.