Six Bay Area restaurants will contribute a share of their proceeds Saturday to a fund for injured Marin Catholic High School pitcher Gunnar Sandberg.
The fundraising effort was started by the players of De La Salle High School in Concord, the team that was playing Marin Catholic March 11 when Sandberg was struck in the head with a baseball struck with a metal bat.
Sandberg, a junior at Marin Catholic, was put into a medically induced coma and a portion of his skull was removed to alleviate swelling in his brain. He is recovering at a rehabilitation hospital in San Francisco.
Rick Steen, De La Salle's baseball coach, said among the participating restaurants are Rocco's Ristorante & Pizzeria and McCovey's Restaurant in Walnut Creek, Ed's Mudville Grill in Clayton, Norm's Place in Danville, the Wipeout Bar and Grill in Greenbrae.
Steen said De La Salle players are wearing "M.C. #17" on the back of the baseball hats in honor of Sandberg, who wears the number.
The restaurant fundraiser has been dubbed 4/17 for # 17." Proceeds will be deposited in an account for Sandberg at the Bank of Marin.
On the Web site Caring Bridge, which posts updates on the conditions of patients for families and loved ones, Sandberg's sister Kalli said her brother "is doing great" and eating three meals a day.
Sandberg is out of the coma and is working on dressing himself and brushing his teeth, Kalli said.
"Everyday his walking seems to improve," she said.
The incident revived the controversy about the use of metal bats, which increase slightly the speed of a baseball struck by them compared to wood bats.
Marin Catholic and other teams in the Marin County Athletic League stopped using metal bats until the end of the season.
De La Salle Shows Its Class
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