Posted by Matt Sisson on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 2:51 pm

Former Boston Red Sox second baseman Mike Andrews will retire at the end of the year after more than 30 years as the Chairman of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund.  Under the direction of Anderws, the Jimmy Fund has grown from raising $1 million dollars on an annual basis to over $64 million in FY09.  The Jimmy Fund’s released a press release stating that Andrews was first introduced to the Jimmy Fund during the 1967 “Impossible Dream” season when he met the first of many patients he would get to know over the years.  “Andrews was touched by the boy’s positive attitude in the face of his terminal disease. Andrews learned firsthand that supporting the Jimmy Fund — an official charity of the Red Sox since 1953 — was an integral part of the team’s culture. Further proof of that came when the team voted unanimously to give a full share of their 1967 World Series bonus money to the Jimmy Fund.”

Andrews, after retiring from baseball in 1979, started his career in insurance and accepted a part-time leadership role with the Jimmy Fund.  Andrews would later became the organizations executive director in 1984. “When Mike Andrews hung up his baseball cleats, he took his talent and competitive spirit and applied it to beating a foe much more formidable than any Fenway Park will ever see,” said Larry Lucchino, Boston Red Sox President/CEO, a Dana-Farber trustee, and co-chair.  “Through his tenacity and vision over the last 30 years, he has had a gigantic impact on the lives of countless adults, children and families who have been treated for cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.”

“I’m a lucky guy to have had the chance to play professional baseball for 13 years and to appear in a couple of World Series,” said Andrews. “But there is no question that being part of Dana-Farber has been the most rewarding part of my professional life.”  Andrews will be greatly missed by the organization, its patients and the Red Sox organization.

For those of you who are not aware, the Jimmy Fund supports the fight against cancer at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, helping to raise the chances of survival for children and adults with cancer around the world through events like the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, Jimmy Fund Golf Tournaments, Dana Farber Marathon Challenge, and the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon, which all started under Andrews’ time with the organization . Since 1948, the generosity of millions of people has helped the Jimmy Fund save countless lives by furthering cancer research and care. Unrestricted support from the Jimmy Fund is an integral part of Mission Possible: The Dana-Farber Campaign to Conquer Cancer, a $1 billion capital campaign to accelerate cancer research, speed development of life-saving therapies, and expand the Institute’s signature patient- and family-centered care.