Posey cheers up young cancer patients

SAN FRANCISCO — Touched by what he was seeing in front of him, Dick Vitale leaned over and whispered into Buster Posey’s ear in the playroom of the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Tuesday morning.

Dozens of children with cancer and their parents crowded into the room to meet the San Francisco Giants catcher. And a woman in front of Vitale and Posey was hugging her baby while tears streamed down her face.

“Crying her eyes out,” Vitale, the vibrant ESPN college basketball analyst, said. “They’re not going to a baseball game like he is. They’re sitting in here from 7 in the morning to 11 o’clock every night. Their life is chasing a dream, hoping and praying that somehow, through a miracle, their child can be saved. These are beautiful young kids. I was ready to bust out crying myself.”

A few precious moments meeting and talking to Posey had an indescribable effect on these patients. Dr. Robert E. Goldsby, a pediatric oncologist, said one of his patient’s smile was “unbelievable” after he received a signed cap and ball from Posey.

Posey’s visit to the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital is part of his foundation’s ongoing effort to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer research. Since the foundation was launched in April, Posey has dedicated time visiting children who are undergoing treatment at a variety of Bay Area hospitals. Vitale, a longtime advocate for the V foundation, joined Posey and the catcher’s wife, Kristen, and the three answered questions from a full-capacity audience, ranging from what their …

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