Drugmaker Bayer AG will announce plans Wednesday to donate $10 to prostate cancer research for every strikeout during the regular season this year.
Major League Baseball estimates the four-year partnership could add up to a little more than $300,000 per year. There were 32,189 strikeouts during the regular season in 2007, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Bayer, based in Leverkusen, Germany, will give an additional $1 million to the Prostate Cancer Foundation if a pitcher sets a new record by striking out 21 batters in a game.
Bayer’s One-A-Day vitamins for men are marketed as a way to maintain prostate health.
The deal marks the brand’s first partnership with a sports organization and is “a great way to reach men for the One-A-Day products,” said Jay Kolpon, vice president of marketing for Bayer Healthcare Consumer Health.
