Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to news reports. However, the 73-year-old, who is leading the investigation into steroid use in Major League Baseball players, is expected to make a full recovery, since the cancer is small, localized and was caught early enough.

Prostate cancer is a serious health concern among men over 60, but with regular screenings, prognosis is often good for those diagnosed with it.

George Mitchell, the man leading an independent investigation of steroid use among Major League Baseball players -- he's also a former U.S. Senate Majority Leader -- has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

"The cancer is small, low grade and localized, and can be effectively treated and cured,'' says Mitchell's physician, The prognosis is very good for Mitchell, a Democrat from Maine.

Mitchell, 73, said in a statement that he expects his treatment will not interfere with his investigation that began in March 2006 when he was appointed by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to interview hundreds of people and review thousands of documents.

Major League Baseball and the Prostate Cancer Foundation teamed up this year to form the Home Run Challenge in honor of Father's Day. Their gift to father's across the country: for each home run hit in 60 selected games between June 6 and today, June 17, raised money for prostate cancer, the second most common cancer for men in the United States.

Some fans of this cause made pledges; some posted online tributes to their dads at Dockers San Francisco. For every message submitted, the company donated one dollar. Some messages were even shown in Times Square for all to see.

I just checked the status of the Home Run Challenge on this Father's Day morning and found the most updated total of home runs to be 91. Leading the accomplishment are Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, and Alfonso Soriano. The current Team Home Run leader: the Cincinnati Reds.

Oakland Athletics center fielder Nick Swisher appeared at Saturday evening's pregame event wearing three ponytails. Prepared to donate his locks to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths non-profit campaign, Swisher said just before his ponytails were snipped, "I feel like Pippi Longstocking. I look so goofy right now. But if I can make a difference in one or two women's lives, it's worth it."

Swisher's father -- major league baseball player Steve Swisher -- did the cutting honors. And it was fitting the two men were in on this endeavor together because Swisher's grandmother -- his dad's mother -- died from brain cancer two years ago.

"The initial idea was out of respect for my mom -- but the second thing is: It's time for a haircut,'' Steve Swisher said. "I'm so proud of Nick. He's bringing attention to a good cause and that's what it's all about.''

Pantene creates free wigs for women dealing with hair loss from cancer treatment.

Cancer goes on. So does life. Just ask Mary Ann O'Rourke, author of a beautiful essay about her two sons, a baseball game, a redecorating project, and a little thing called breast cancer.

The essay, titled My cancer, and me, go on, will warm your heart.

Think about this:

About boys:

On a misty June morning I tell the boys.

"Guys, I have some bad news," I say, as we walk down Valley Road.

They stop, wait for me to catch up.

"I have breast cancer," I say.

Jack flashes me a steely look. He's the mathematician, the calculating one who likes order. Things aren't adding up.

"It's OK, though." I say. "I have good doctors taking care of me. I'll have to get sick to get better, but I'll be fine after that."

With lowered heads, the boys hold a polite and deferential silence. We continue our walk.

"Jack, you wanna build a fort?" Joe asks.

"No, Joe," Jack replies. "We're playing baseball, remember?"

About baseball:

Sunny and 70 degrees, a gentle breeze is blowing in from Lake Michigan as we settle into our bleacher seats. My husband, Leo, passes down two Cokes, a beer and a Wrigley Field visor to protect me from the sun.

The Cubs lead in the ninth inning when Milwaukee's left fielder cranks one over our heads onto Sheffield Avenue to bring in the winning run for the Brewers. Jack and Joe lean over the railing and watch Sammy Sosa shake his head in disgust.

The beer tastes bitter. I had started chemotherapy a week earlier.

About redecorating:

I'm drawn to a loose seam of wallpaper in the corner of the room. I peel off a long, satisfying swath. I move from panel to panel, stripping all that comes easy. I feel the wall, scrape with my fingernails, yank hard and viscously, over and over.

I'm learning the sad truth about wallpaper. The battle is not so much with the paper, as it is with the glue underneath. Even with DIF, the paste comes off slowly, in tiny wads of goo. I scrape feverishly, angrily at one stubborn patch. As I gouge the wall, the razor pops out of my hand, flips upside down and slices my right wrist.

About breast cancer:

It's been 31⁄2 years since my diagnosis.

On a frigid February morning, with a cup of coffee in one hand, I climb the ladder to Joe's bunk bed.

"C'mon honey," I nudge. "We gotta work on those spelling words."

I place a soft pillow behind my moppy morning hair.

Joe slowly comes to life.

"PROCEED," he mumbles. "P-R-O-C-E-E-D."

As he rattles off words, I sip my coffee and bask in the warmth of his room.

Frost outside the window sparkles in the morning sun. A pirate ship poster wilts from the vapors of Joe's fish tank. My carefully planned navy-amber-white color scheme clashes with his Civil War map and his Kansas City Chiefs pennant.

The gouge in the wall warms my heart, and I reach under the blanket to squeeze Joe's toes.

All-Star Cincinnati Reds catcher Ed Bailey -- famous in the 1950s -- died of throat cancer on Friday, six months after he was diagnosed with the disease. He was 75.

Bailey, a five-time All-Star, started his baseball career with the Reds in 1953. He went on to hit 28 home runs for the team in 1956 and then went on to play for the Milwaukee Braves, the Chicago Cubs, and the California Angels. He played in his final game in 1966.

Bailey is survived by his wife, Betty, and four sons, Jack, Jeff, Joe, and Jim Bailey of Knoxville.

I know just how Jon Lester feels as he survives the cancer that took him out of the game of baseball and threw him into the arms of the medical system.

It's not the baseball I can identify with. It's the little bit of cancer fear that never really goes away. And it's the will to return to the land of the living that Lester and I share.

"When you're laying in bed at night, when you're not doing anything, you think about it a little bit," he says. "As long as I keep busy, I'm all right. Every now and again I feel something and go, `OK, what was that?' but I try not to think about it too much."

Lately, Lester is thinking mostly about a return to Boston's pitching staff, less than six months after a cancer curve ball came right at him, threatening both his promising career and his life.

Lester, whose weight was down to 190 during chemotherapy, is back up to 212 -- five pounds less than his normal weight -- and his arms are powerful, his legs strong, his appearance healthy.

As a rookie last year, Lester became the first Red Sox left-hander to win his first five decisions. He was 7-2 with a 4.76 ERA when cancer came crashing into his world. Diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma in August, Lester received treatment at both the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and at his hometown Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. His last chemotherapy dose was delivered on December 4. His last check-up was in January. And now, newly 23 and cancer-free, Lester is ready to play ball.

Lester is prepared for his coaching staff to hold him back. He says he can tell everyone until he's blue in the face that he's ready but he knows the staff has his best interests in mind. He trusts their professional opinions, and he'll accept a return to the minors if that's what is in store for him.

"I'm not as hard on myself as I was last year," he said. "It's just a matter of enjoying playing baseball and not necessarily the result. So (I'm) just trying to enjoy things and take it day by day and live my life the best I can."

Former Cincinnati Reds pitching coach Vern Ruhle died Saturday after a year-long battle with myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. He was 55.

Ruhle, who missed the entire 2006 season following his diagnosis, had recently undergone stem cell transplants in hopes the procedures would successfully treat his cancer. But complications of the disease rendered the attempts unsuccessful.

Ruhle served 12 years as a major league pitching coach and worked in Houston, Philadelphia, and New York before joining the Reds in 2004. He had a career record of 67-88 with a 3.73 ERA.

Ruhle is survived by his wife, Sue, his daughter, Rebecca, his son, Kenny -- and his Cincinnati Reds family.

"The baseball and Cincinnati Reds families mourn the loss of an excellent coach, wonderful husband, and loving father," the Reds said in a statement. "In his 35 years in professional and collegiate baseball, Vern touched many people inside and outside the game. We are privileged to have been a part of his life. He will be greatly missed."

New York Yankees legend and sports broadcaster Bobby Murcer will undergo surgery today at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston for a brain tumor, according to a New York Daily News published report. Murcer, who is 60, had been experiencing headaches and a lack of energy. The tumor was found during an MRI performed on Christmas eve.

Murcer is quoted by the newspaper as saying, "I'm feeling OK and we're just going to have to see what this surgery will bring. I'm hopeful that everything will turn out OK and I'm thankful to have so many friends who are rooting for me."

Murcer played professional baseball for 17 seasons. According to Wikipedia's profile, "A shortstop in the minor leagues, Murcer was slated to be the Yankees' third baseman but ended up being the center fielder following in the footsteps of Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio. Almost anyone would suffer in comparison to those members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Murcer did well enough during the years the Yankees finished in the second division to become one of the team's most popular players of that era."

Murcer played for the New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, and the Chicago Cubs before returning to play for the Yankees again. He retired and became a sports broadcaster for the Yankees, going on to win three Emmy Awards for live sports coverage.

Lamar Hunt, the man who owned the Kansas City Chiefs and coined the term Super Bowl, died Wednesday night of complications from prostate cancer. He was 74.

Hunt had been battling cancer for several years. But he learned just before Thanksgiving while hospitalized for a collapsed lung that his cancer had spread.

A founder of the American Football League and driving force behind the AFL-NFL merger, Hunt grew up in Dallas and attended a private boys' prep school where he served as captain of the football team. He loved sports -- and earned the nickname Games -- and went on to play college football. While he didn't excel much as an athlete, he did soar to great heights as an owner and promoter of teams in professional football, basketball, baseball, tennis, soccer, and bowling.

Hunt's achievements are plentiful. He started the first organized effort at a pro tennis tour, helped bring pro soccer to the United States, owned Hunt Sports Group which manages Major League Soccer franchises in Dallas, Kansas City, and Columbus, Ohio, and was the last remaining original owner of the Chicago Bulls basketball franchise,

Inducted into eight halls of fame, Hunt is clearly one accomplished man.

Of his influence in the world in football, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says, "you'd be hard-pressed to find anybody that's made a bigger contribution (to the NFL) than Lamar Hunt."

Hunt is survived by wife Norma, children Lamar Jr., Sharron Munson, Clark, and Daniel; and 13 grandchildren.

If you haven't tried fishing, it is one of the most relaxing, and at the same time, exciting ways to spend a day. If I want to find a center of calm and peace in my life, fishing is a guaranteed remedy to the hustle and bustle of an often too-busy lifestyle. Water is soothing, and nature has a way of resetting your internal clock to a slower more natural rhythm.

National Baseball Hall of Famer Boston Red Sox Wade Boggs and television's Addictive Fishing host Captain Blair Wiggins first met through the Pediatric Cancer Foundation (PCF). On November 10-12, with other celebrities and fishermen, both will take part in the Ninth Annual Mercury Grand Slam Celebrity Fishing Tournament as part of Reel In The Cure to raise money for childhood cancers.

In the meantime, on September 3rd, you can catch Boggs on the Addictive Fishing show on the FOX Sports Net (FSN) channel as he attempts to reel in the biggest redfish off Florida's Space Coast. Maybe you have to be as big a fan of fishing as we are to truly appreciate the excitement of watching a show about fishing. It's not the same as fishing, but it comes close. According to the press release, Wiggins is credited with bringing outdoor sports programming to a whole new level with Addictive Fishing.

A stunned, devastated and overwhelmed Ken Griffey Jr. has learned this week that not one, but both parents have been diagnosed with cancer. His father, former Cincinnati Reds player Ken Griffey Sr. has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and his mother, Alberta "Bertie" Griffey has been diagnosed with colon cancer. His father's prostate cancer has been discovered in its early stage but his mother is scheduled for colon cancer surgery today.

Faced with tough decisions, he is not certain if he will play baseball this week or spend time with his parents. It is reported that his mother has asked him to continue playing baseball and the Reds manager has stated it wouldn't be a problem if Griffey wanted to take time off to be with his family.

According to Medline Plus, excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in men and in women in the United States. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that about 106,680 new cases of colon cancer will be diagnosed this year alone. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer, other than skin cancers, for American men. The ACS estimates that one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. In the US, there are approximately 1.8 million prostate cancer survivors.

I hesitate to bring this up, as the hot dog is a bonafide American icon, associated so closely as it is to the all-American pastimes of baseball and backyard barbeques -- and to sacrilegiously make the suggestion or malign the hot dog on any level I realize puts me at risk of having my patriotism brought into question.

Still, knowing this, I have chosen to throw pickle relish caution to the wind in the name of science and better health.

According to University of Nebraska researchers (you note I point directly to the researchers as the originators of this news) some hot dogs might cause DNA mutation and increase colon cancer risks. Not all hotdogs, but they cannot tell you at this time which hotdogs are a cancer menace.

Hot dogs do not stand alone as culprits to cancer. Salted dried fish and soy sauce have been identified as potential offenders. But I am not nearly as skittish in mentioning the latter two.

The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council estimates that more than seven billion hot dogs will be eaten by Americans between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Statistics estimate the breakdown of hot dog consumption per American is 60 hot dogs a year.

Next? Brushing up on my French.

This Father's Day, as part of Major League Baseball's Prostate Cancer Foundation's Home Run Challenge, the seventh-inning stretch will be moved to the sixth inning to symbolize that one out of six men in the country will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. In addition, players, managers, coaches, trainers, umpires and groundskeepers will raise awareness and show support by wearing blue wristbands, blue ribbon uniform decals, blue eye glare and temporary blue ribbon tattoos.

"People are starting to age. We're just trying to make sure that people are aware of how important it is to get the message out and have guys talk about it, because as men, sometimes we're reluctant to talk about health issues," states Home Run Challenge spokesperson Ozzie Smith. "Being part of the baby boomers, this falls right into our lap. It's important to at least make an effort to make people more aware of how important it is to get checked. When we talk to them when they're 40 to 45, by the time they get to 50, they'll be ready to take the plunge to get things done."

See, you could take your dad to a ballgame and he could learn all about the need to be screened for prostate cancer without you trying to find a way to work the subject of your dad's prostate into conversation. For some, that conversation might be an easy one to have with dad. But for others, saying "Happy Father's Day and have you thought about your prostate lately," might seem awkward. Does Hallmark even make a card for that conversation? A day at the ballpark seems a clever solution.

A minor league baseball team in Hickory, NC is helping to bring awareness to breast cancer recognizing that it is not just a disease for women but a disease that also affects men.  The Hickory Crawdads will take to the field wearing pink jerseys as they take on the Kannapolis Intimidators to help build awareness of breast cancer and the importance of early screening and detection. 

The event will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday June 15 at L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory, NC. Fifty percent of all ticket sales from the game will be donated to Catawba Valley Medical Center's Breast Health Center to support breast cancer education and free mammograms.

Breast cancer survivors will be recognized during the game at half time and informational booths will be set up about breast cancer screening, treatment and prevention by the Catawba Valley Medical Center's Breast Health Center. CVMC's mobile mammography unit will also be on display.

You can purchase tickets online or call the Crawdad's box office at 828-322-3000. Ticket office hours are 10am to 5:30pm Monday through Friday.