February 2024
A warm day in Arizona, sun blazing. I stood before a crowd of about ten thousand at the exact spot used by many professional athletes. Among those in attendance was a former president. My brain told me I should be nervous. But inexplicably I was not. Instead I was intent on pitching a baseball sixty feet six inches facing an opponent much more talented than I. Nolan Arenado commonly whacks a baseball more than 350 feet thrown at upwards of more than 100 mph. My sinker clocks in at 39 mph. I wind up knowing that my pitch will be video recorded and viewed on YouTube. Perhaps I can be seen on the Marquee Sports Network, probably not. Why am I not nervous? The crowd is blocked from my mind. I’m totally focused on my catcher. I release the ball. My sinker travels sixty feet and hits home plate. Arenado swings and misses! Is this a dream? Well, only the Arenado part.
How did this happen? This spring training game at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona saw the Cubs lose to the Padres 7-0. But the day started out very promising. Shortly after entering the ballpark Diana and I bumped into Lauren Shadid, Director of Events for the Cubs. We had met her two years earlier at a Bradley University Alumni event in Scottsdale. After chatting briefly about this day being Bradley Day at Sloan Park, she asked me if I wanted to throw out the first pitch. What!? My initial thought was that I was not up to the task and I would probably look foolish. But within a few seconds I agreed thinking very few people here know me and according to George Bernard Shaw, “A man … progresses in all things by making a fool of himself”. So now I had about an hour to prepare, too late of course to practice. I had not thrown a baseball from a pitcher’s mound since 2010 when a current pitching coach for the New York Yankees, Desi Druschel, asked me to make my first First Pitch at a Mount Mercy University baseball game. That turned out fine. Wondering if my arm was still up to the task I attempted to get some encouragement from my fellow college alumni including Beverly, Bill and Molly. When I confided to former Bradley president Gary Roberts that I was a little nervous he told me, “You should be! You’ll look stupid out there.” Laughing, I immediately loosened up and experienced a growing level of confidence that carried me through the day.
Gary Roberts
But this story did not end with my pitch. My catcher, Cubs mascot Clark, congratulated me after which we had a few photos taken. Then Lauren shared with me that she had tried to get fellow Bradley graduate and then Cubs center fielder Mike Tauchman to be my catcher. That would have been an incredible thrill, no offense to Clark. Nevertheless, the excitement was not yet over. Lauren led us back to the stands through a tunnel and up the players’ stairway. Manager Craig Counsell and some Cubs players were coming down as we were going up. I asked Craig for a quick photo but he had to get to the field. Darn! However, Diana took a photo of him. Someday I need to have him autograph it. 😁
This unique day was still not over. While waiting to dine at the Culinary Dropout Restaurant in Scottsdale Tony and Sonia from Long Grove, Illinois, introduced themselves and asked, “Did you throw out the first pitch today?” Oh no, people recognized me! Oh well, by making a fool of myself on this memorable day I had in a small way made some progress toward stardom. I have a fan club! Go Cubs!
Addendum January 18, 2025
At the Cubs Convention in Chicago I was able to chat with Manager Craig Counsell a little about my first pitch. He was impressed (?) and commented that might be the first recorded 39 mph sinker pitch. Wow! Since the Cubs were recently unable to sign pitcher Roki Sasaki I offered Craig my services. He thought briefly and said, “39 or 102? I’ll let you know.” When I told him I struck out Arenado he laughed! But I did get an autograph!
He laughed again as he signed the photo.
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