MLB Launches Campaign Supporting Welcome Back Veterans

By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

MLB announced a national marketing campaign to support Welcome Back Veterans, a military veteran support organization created in part by Mets Owner Fred Wilpon. The effort will include all 30 MLB clubs wearing stars-and-stripes decorated versions of team caps during the upcoming July 4 weekend and on September 11, with a corresponding retail effort for those caps beginning yesterday; the placement of the Welcome Back Veterans logo on bases and ceremonial home plates; and a series of fundraising auctions on MLB.com for game-used versions of the caps, bases and special line-up cards. The money, part of an overall fundraising goal of $100M, will go toward job placement and mental health services for returning veterans. "We've climbed a couple of mountains, and we're now at the base of Mt. Everest, so to speak," Wilpon said. "This is a very critical issue for our country. We've tried to make this as apolitical as possible. It doesn't matter whether you support the current conflict [in Iraq] or not. What matters here is we're giving back to these brave men and women who have given us so much."

WILPON DEFENDS FIRING: Wilpon, making his first public appearance since last week's much-debated firing of Mets manager Willie Randolph, defended the move and lent his support behind GM Omar Minaya. "You can always look over your shoulder and think things like that," Wilpon said, referring to any potential regrets about sending Randolph to Anaheim last week before getting fired. "But the intent here clearly was to respect Willie. To do it in person. It's never easy to fire anybody. Omar took a lot of time. We took a lot of time listening to him and thinking about it. He wanted to respect Willie, and that's what he did."