Randall Bats Against Cancer in Greenwich

When Larchmont's Ed Randall sits down at Greenwich Hospital for a live private presentation of “Ed Randall's Talking Baseball,” he will have some statistics on his mind. And not all of them are related to sports.

“Men are 33 percent more likely to get prostate cancer than women are to get breast cancer. We have more cases, and more deaths,” Randall says. In 2002, he founded Fans for the Cure after winning his own fight against prostate cancer.

Sports and statistics helped Randall stay positive after his diagnosis. With detection and treatment, he was given a 90 percent chance of recovery and a 70 percent chance that the cancer would not return. “I thought, 30 percent? The guys who beat that, they go to Cooperstown,” Randall says.

But feeling good doesn't mean someone is healthy, he says. With one in 10 men likely to have an issue with his prostate, early detection is important. Of those, one in six will have cancer. Randall says the numbers are even higher in the African-American community.

Randall kicked off Fans for the Cure with a celebrity softball game eight years ago. More recently, he has conducted screenings at major league stadiums with the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. He's growing the organization beyond just baseball, targeting programs with the NFL and NHL.

Randall has made his life by talking about baseball. Aside from hosting "Ed Randall's Talking Baseball" on WFAN-AM, he also has "Remember When" on satellite radio stations Sirius Channel 209 and XM 89. And he has a role as the WWOR-TV post-game analyst for the New York Yankees.

Greenwich Hospital will run an education and screening program Sept. 15 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the hospital’s Ambulatory Surgical Outpatient Center, 2nd Floor, Helmsley Medical Building. Randall will host a live presentation of “Ed Randall's Talking Baseball” from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Noble Conference Center. A panel of former major leaguers will talk about their careers and comment on the 2011 season. For more information on this free program, contact Community Health at Greenwich Hospital at 203-863-4444. No registration is required.

For Randall, the goal is to make men understand that once they hit 40, they need to be aware of prostate cancer and follow through with screenings and tests. He says it is men's responsibility to themselves and the people who love them. “If we save even one life, we're batting 1,000,” Randall says.

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