University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers To Honor Oakes at Light The Night
9/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The University of Minnesota baseball team and the Oakes family are joining together to participate in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Minnesota Chapter's annual Light The Night Walk, Sunday, Oct. 16, in Minneapolis. Members of the Gopher Baseball team and the Oakes family are raising funds and awareness to support blood cancer research and patient services for local families in memory of longtime Gopher pitching coach Todd Oakes.
Light The Night is an inspirational community event that will be held at the Depot, downtown Minneapolis. Before the walk, participants will enjoy live music, food trucks, a kid zone and other festivities. From the Depot, participants will walk across the historic Stone Arch Bridge and light the night with illuminated lanterns before returning to the Depot for more live music.
In honor of Oakes, the Gophers are walking for Team T.O. and the Oakes family. Supporters can register to walk or make a donation to Team T.O. at: http://pages.lightthenight.org/mn/TwinCiti16/TeamTO.
Todd Oakes was the Gopher pitching coach for 18 seasons, from 1998 to 2016. During his tenure, Minnesota had 26 pitchers drafted into the Major League Baseball and an All-Big Ten First or Second Team selection in all but three years. In June 2012, Oakes was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). After going into remission twice in 2012 and 2015, Oakes learned his cancer returned in September 2015. He passed away on May 26, 2016.
Since learning of his diagnosis in 2012, Oakes was an active member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Minnesota Chapter. In 2014, Oakes was nominated to run for LLS Man of the Year. He not only helped raise awareness, but also raised more than $75,000 for blood cancer research. Oakes continued to help patients by serving on the executive board for LLS. This mission started a "Strike Out Cancer" campaign and the Gophers have dedicated games to LLS fundraising and awareness that has raised more than $53,000 for LLS. Because of Oakes' outstanding fundraising efforts, his family was given the opportunity to name an AML research portfolio in memory of Todd.
For more information on Light The Night visit www.LightTheNight.org/mn or the Minnesota LLS Chapter, visit www.lls.org/mn or call 612.259.4600.
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