Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder.  When former professional athletes publicly reveal that they have PD, the news is a cruel reminder that even those who were physically gifted are not immune to the disease.  Such news is a call to action for the rest of us.

To help the Blechman Foundation make this point, the Miami Marlins’ Dee Gordon partnered with the Foundation to encourage people to pledge money for PD research for every base that he stole in the month of April.  Dee Gordon was the 2014 Major League Baseball stolen base champion.  The connection between stealing bases and PD was a natural in April.  That month was the start of the Major League Baseball season and National Parkinson’s Awareness month.  As noted, PD is a movement disorder, and stealing bases requires fast movement.  Parkinson’s robs its victims of movement, and a player like Dee Gordon steals bases.

A number of former Major League Baseball players have publicly shared the news that they have PD.  In April, Kirk Gibson – a former Detroit Tiger and Los Angeles Dodgers player and former manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks – revealed that he has PD.  Previously, Dave Parker – a former player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds – shared the news that he has Parkinson’s.  Another big league ballplayer with PD is Ben Petrick, who has written about living with PD while playing and after leaving baseball in a book titled “Forty Thousand to One Forty Thousand to One.”  (You can learn more about Ben and his book at http://www.benpetrick.com.)

News that these former professional athletes have PD is a sobering reminder that PD strikes without regard to its victim’s history of physical activity.  The likes of Gordon, Gibson, Parker, and Petrick helpfully use their standing as current or former Major League Baseball players to remind all of us that if PD – a movement disorder — can strike former professional athletes, then it can strike most anyone, which is why attention should be paid and action should be taken.