MLB, Red Sox bring light to charitable causes in advance of Series' Game 2

Quite an honor to be at#homebaseprogram at the Spaulding rehab center. Getting to meet Patrick marathon bomb victim. pic.twitter.com/1TOCkmAVrY

— Mike Timlin (@TheMikeTimlin) October 24, 2013

For the past five years, Major League Baseball has used the spotlight on the game during the World Series to raise awareness for causes it deems are important -- dedicating Game 1 to saluting veterans and military families, and Game 2 to shining the light on organizations that impact lives, and so Thursday MLB and a few former Red Sox are making three community appearances today in support of that mission.

The highlight comes in the afternoon, when a delegation headed by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig heads to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital at 2:30 to visit with veterans from the Home Base Program -- which is a joint effort between the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital. Joining Selig will be a Red Sox contingent including Chairman Tom Werner, Hall of Famer Jim Rice, and two-time (in Boston) World Series champ Mike Timlin, as well as MGH President Dr. Peter Slavin, and Home Base Program Executive Director Brigadier General Jack Hammond.

It will be the second appearance of the day for Timlin, who was in Dorchester Thursday morning for a ribbon cutting at the site of a Habitat for Humanity home that's been built on Blue Hill Avenue.

In partnership with Somali emmigrants Mohamed and Safiyo Bule, as well as their five children, Habitat Greater Boston is constructing 24 new condo units on Blue Hill Avenue and Intervale Street, revitalizing a lot that had been vacant since the 1960s. Four of the five planned buildings have been completed, including the one Timlin helped unveil.

Wow amazing morning at #habitatforhumanity dedication @mlb does a great job pic.twitter.com/EsJXmAr2g8

— Mike Timlin (@TheMikeTimlin) October 24, 2013

Another of Timlin's buddies from the bullpen that helped the Red Sox beat the Cardinals in the 2004 Series was also part of the day's festivities, with Keith Foulke joining a group that went to the Roslindale Community Center for a "Wanna Play" event put on by the Boys & Girls Club of America. Wanna Play is a billed as a multi-faceted initiative with a fitness curriculum dedicated to increasing fitness and nutrition education among boys and girls ages 5-13, while also teaching the fundamentals of baseball and softball.

With both of them in town, it's a pretty safe bet Timlin and Foulke will be two of the players from the '04 champs that'll throw out ceremonial first pitches prior to Game 2. Curt Schilling and Kevin Millar will be on site for ESPN and MLB Network, respectively, so count him them in, too, while Tim Wakefield, Pedro Martinez, and Jason Varitek all work for the Sox front office now.

Will the MVP of that series against the Cardinals be at Fenway, though? We'll have to wait and see.