Jim Harbaugh joins the rest of 'Gotham City' in cheering on BatKid

BatKid prepares for his latest adventure, and the 49ers are impressed. (Jeff Chiu/AP) If you've been anywhere near television, newspapers or social media

Doug Farrar | Nov 15, 2013

Jim Harbaugh joins the rest of 'Gotham City' in cheering on BatKid /

BatKid prepares for his latest adventure, and the 49ers are impressed. (Jeff Chiu/AP)

If you've been anywhere near television, newspapers or social media today, you're aware of the amazing adventure that one five-year-old boy has enjoyed. Miles Scott is in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a disease he's been fighting since he was 20 months old. The young man finished his latest round of chemotherapy in June, and his dream was to keep living his life in heroic fashion. The Bay Area chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation was made aware of Miles' goal -- to be Batman.

What occurred in the wake of that wish makes for an amazing story. With the efforts of thousands of volunteers, San Francisco turned itself into Gotham City for a day, and Miles was able to save the city as "BatKid."

"I thought I could do it on a scale that a 5-year-old would appreciate," Patricia Wilson, Make-A-Wish's Bay Area executive director, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "But apparently, it's on a scale now that the nation appreciates. I've never seen anything go viral like this, with the outpouring of support from across the world."

Young Miles saved a damsel in distress from the cable car tracks, foiled the Riddler in a bank heist attempt, and rescued Lou Seal, the San Francisco Giants' mascot, after poor Lou was kidnapped by the Penguin. He then received the key to the city from Mayor Edwin Lee.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh spent Friday preparing his team for Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints, but he was just as aware as everybody else in the city of what BatKid was accomplishing.

“It’s wonderful, wonderful,” Harbaugh said during his press conference. “It’s great for the youngster and it’s great for the city of San Francisco and the whole region.

“I’m excited to read about it. Saving lives for the day, I love it. It’s so good ... A good deed in a weary world.”

No doubt. If you're not aware of BatKid's exploits, you can catch up here, or follow the #SFBatKid hashtag on Twitter.

Published Nov 15, 2013

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.