A top official of the New York Yankees whose father passed from pancreatic cancer has joined a prestigious national panel organized by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) to fight this aggressive disease.
Brian Cashman, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the vaunted Yankees Major League Baseball franchise, has joined TGen’s National Advisory Council for Pancreatic Cancer Research.
TGen’s National Advisory Council leads a critically needed funding effort and promotes a deeper public understanding of pancreatic cancer, the nation’s fourth-leading cause of cancer death, which in 2012 took the lives of nearly 44,000 in the U.S. and nearly 235,000 worldwide.
Cashman lost his father, John, in September after a 10-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He had wanted his Yankees to reach the World Series as one last gift to his father.
“My father loved the Yankees. There are a lot of people who face these kinds of challenges, and they look to the Yankees to provide positive inspiration. For my father, the Yankees were always something he could look forward to,” he said. “I welcome the responsibilities and challenges of my role in the fight against pancreatic cancer. I have a personal experience to draw from, and coupled with my unique standing within the fabric of baseball, I’d like to believe I can make the type of contribution my father would be proud of.”
Cashman was invited to join TGen’s National Advisory Council by another council member, Arizona Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall, who in 2011 lost his father, Larry, to pancreatic cancer, even as Derrick was fighting his own battle with prostate cancer.
The Yankees and Diamondbacks played one of the game’s iconic 7-game World Series in 2001.
In addition to Cashman and Hall, another MLB official, David Dombrowski – President, CEO and General Manager of the Detroit Tigers – also is a member of the National Advisory Council for Pancreatic Cancer Research.
Other members of TGen’s National Advisory Council are: Raymond Bojanowski, Co-founder and Co-chairman of the Seena Magowitz Foundation; Karl Glassman, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Leggett & Platt Inc.; Diane Halle,
President of the Bruce T. Halle Family Foundation and the Herbert K. Cummings Charitable Trust; Steve Hilton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Meritage Homes Corp.; David Lane, President of the Lane Affiliated Companies; Roger Magowitz, President and Founder of the Seena Magowitz Foundation; Vincent McBeth, President of the The McBeth Group International and a retired U.S. Navy Commander; Larry Rogers, President and CEO of the Sealy Corp.; Steve Stagner, President and CEO of the Mattress Firm; Louis A. “Chip” Weil III, retired Chairman, President and CEO of Central Newspapers Inc.; and Howard Young, President of the General Wholesale Company.
“Brian Cashman is a powerful addition to TGen’s National Advisory Council. His personal experience, championship reputation, and national visibility will be a huge boost to TGen’s fight against pancreatic cancer,” said Michael Bassoff, TGen Foundation President.
Cashman joined the Yankees as a 19-year-old intern and now commands one of the most demanding jobs in sports. During 25 seasons, he has earned five World Series rings. At age 30, he became the youngest GM to win a World Series. And during 1998-2000 he became the only GM in Baseball history to win World Series titles in each of his first three seasons.
