Ceremonial First Pitch

[Guest d'Kong76]

My mind was just wandering reading that Shea thread. Does
anyone know the how, when, and why the first pitch was moved
from the traditional spot (from the stands) to the field of play?

[G-Fafif]

I took a stab at tracking this down some years ago and couldn't get anywhere. I do remember that as late as 1986, Jean Yawkey and Nelson Doubleday threw out first Game Seven pitches from their seats, as did others in that postseason. By 1993, dignitaries standing on mounds was common enough so that when Kevin Kline appeared in Dave, throwing out the first pitch at OP@CY, he was on the mound, and it seemed perfectly normal.

VP Bush threw from the mound to Gary Carter on Opening Day 1985, so it seems to be one of those things that kind of shifted over time, as opposed to everybody getting an edict.

What I don't remember until the late '90s was every game getting a ceremonial first pitch. It used to be just the very special games. Once it dawned on the "industry" that this was a sweet sponsorship opportunity, it seemed to proliferate. A buddy of mine who worked for Tribune Company when they owned the Cubs was granted first pitch honors once...one of at least three "first pitches" for that particular game, which he said was about part for the Wrigley course.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I remember hearing somewhere that it was Reagan.

OE: Article about his Opening Day drop-in, in 1984.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Guest

[Ceetar]

Is there a blog or site out there that tracks first pitches? It'd be an interesting stat to throw out there "Mets are 4-2 when Michael Almonte throws out the first pitch" or something.

[G-Fafif]

Judging from this slideshow, Bush 41 seems to have been the sea change with presidents, having been the former Yale 1B and always looking for ways to show his regular guy qualities.

Not that presidents are the sole first-pitch practitioners, but I imagine Bush taking the mound helped set a tone, the way Taft getting up and stretching allegedly invented the seventh-inning stretch (to say nothing of the fifth-inning nosh).

[G-Fafif]

Reagan indeed toes the rubber late in his second term.

[Guest d'Kong76]

G-Fafif wrote: VP Bush threw from the mound to Gary Carter on Opening Day 1985

The Gary game was what got me thinking. I went from thinking
about sitting in the last row up the uppers freezing my petunias
off to remembering everyone walking down the ramps chanting
in unison Gare-eee Gare-eee Gare-eee to then remembering
that Geo Sr was there too.

[G-Fafif]

The 1984 article has Reagan doing it in front of the dugout, which makes sense if you remember that as late as 1969 (if you remember your World Series telecasts), pitchers still warmed up there as opposed to the bullpen. That would be where Reagan, from his broadcasting days, likely thought it would be appropriate. Then again, he might have just been told to stand there by the Secret Service or his political choreographers, and if the erstwhile actor could do anything, it was take direction.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Another photo collection lends credence to the Reagan thing.

Also, it lends credence to the rumors that, as a pitcher, Harding was more Little Teapot than Dome-Mound Dominator.

[G-Fafif]

Was watching MLBN's 1989 version of "Baseball Seasons" earlier and when they wanted to honor first responders post-earthquake when WS resumed, they were on the mound at Candlestick. I wouldn't swear to it, but I wonder if 1986 was the last time big-game first pitches were thrown from the box seats.

Though I don't remember first pitches as daily occurrences for a long time to come, the Mets did have one on July 4, 1986, to coincide with 100th anniversary of Statue of Liberty. They found a woman who was born that day (or thereabouts). She had been offered first pitch honors at Shea -- from the box next to the Mets dugout -- as well as an invite to watch the reopening of the Statue with then President and Mrs. Reagan. She chose the Mets because she said she was more interested in meeting Gary Carter.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Kong76 wrote: My mind was just wandering reading that Shea thread. Does anyone know the how, when, and why the first pitch was moved from the traditional spot (from the stands) to the field of play?

Is that the adorable Julie in pink next to the president?

[Guest themetfairy]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Kong76 wrote: My mind was just wandering reading that Shea thread. Does anyone know the how, when, and why the first pitch was moved from the traditional spot (from the stands) to the field of play? Is that the adorable Julie in pink next to the president?

It could be. And that appears to be Pat on his other side.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Another photo collection lends credence to the Reagan thing. Also, it lends credence to the rumors that, as a pitcher, Harding was more Little Teapot than Dome-Mound Dominator.

Hoover looked like he was all business!

[Guest d'Kong76]

The look on the faces of these people is funny. The President has
thrown a baseball!! In color!!

[fimg=550:2li6whgd]http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/tumblr_m1ywpq6vjc1qm9rypo1_1280.jpg[/fimg:2li6whgd]

[G-Fafif]

Kong76 wrote: The look on the faces of these people is funny. The President has thrown a baseball!! In color!!

I still find it hard to fathom life didn't take place in black and white before color photography became the norm.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Another photo collection lends credence to the Reagan thing. Also, it lends credence to the rumors that, as a pitcher, Harding was more Little Teapot than Dome-Mound Dominator. Hoover looked like he was all business!

Right? Was it a mound pugnacity just shy of the Gibson-Drysdale-Maglie class? Or maybe it was the fact that the crowds were booing like a Rose Bowl full of ghosts?

[Edgy MD]

Ceetar wrote: Is there a blog or site out there that tracks first pitches? It'd be an interesting stat to throw out there "Mets are 4-2 when Michael Almonte throws out the first pitch" or something.

We had a thread once about stuff that should be included in boxscores. This was one.

[ashie62]

More on Ronald Reagan being the sea change

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceremonial_first_pitch

[Guest sharpie]

We had a thread once about stuff that should be included in boxscores. This was one.

If that was included we could always blame Al from Bay Ridge Nissan for wrecking the season.

[Edgy MD]

I thought National Anthem Singer (or "NAS:") might similarly be a helpful boxscore addendum.

[stevejrogers]

Ceetar wrote: Is there a blog or site out there that tracks first pitches? It'd be an interesting stat to throw out there "Mets are 4-2 when Michael Almonte throws out the first pitch" or something.

Does seem like way too of an obscure thing to track. Even if you have access to Press Game Notes, I doubt they'd have all 81+ ceremonial pitch throwers or anthem performers for every single time (gotta give some room for cases of games called in progress and the person wasn't able to be brought back). Anthem maybe, but it seems more of a "you'd have to be there to know" sort of thing than something you'd see written down.

[Ceetar]

SteveJRogers wrote: Ceetar wrote: Is there a blog or site out there that tracks first pitches? It'd be an interesting stat to throw out there "Mets are 4-2 when Michael Almonte throws out the first pitch" or something. Does seem like way too of an obscure thing to track. Even if you have access to Press Game Notes, I doubt they'd have all 81+ ceremonial pitch throwers or anthem performers for every single time (gotta give some room for cases of games called in progress and the person wasn't able to be brought back). Anthem maybe, but it seems more of a "you'd have to be there to know" sort of thing than something you'd see written down.

I do have access to the press game notes (in fact, everyone does) but they don't always list it. (I just checked for the last series)

Although if someone puts in the effort it shouldn't be too hard to track every day, at least bug people at the game to make note of it. Don't know if I have the following for that, particularly for Away Games, but maybe?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I was at a Cyclones game in 2009 where there were seven different people or groups throwing out the first pitch. Not all at once, but one after another. The seventh person to do so was actually throwing out the seventh pitch, but no one seemed to acknowledge that.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I was at a Cyclones game in 2009 where there were seven different people or groups throwing out the first pitch. Not all at once, but one after another. The seventh person to do so was actually throwing out the seventh pitch, but no one seemed to acknowledge that.

the Mets tend to stick to one except for special occasions, but last time i was at a Yankees game they did 2 or 3. That might make tracking it more difficult I suppose.

[batmagadanleadoff]

[fimg=944:2rzcef9q]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2876/11787545953_b437c25fa9_o.jpg[/fimg:2rzcef9q]

07 Apr 1973, New York, New York, USA --- Unique catcher...Eleven former P.O.W.s share honor of throwing out the first ball to N.Y. Mets' catcher Duffy Dyer as crowd of 27,326 baseball fans look on during pre-game ceremonies in Mets-Philadelphia Phillies game here Friday. P.O.W.s are (left to right): Captain Allen C. Brady, USN, Virginia Beach, Va.; Cdr. Gerald Coffee, USN, Sanford, Fla.; Cdr. Theodore F. Kopfman, USN, LeMoore, California; Capt. Harry Jenkins, USN, Coronado, California; Cdr. Kay Russell, USN, San Diego, California; Cdr. J.B. McKamey, USN, LeMoore, California; Cdr. Render Crayton, USN, LaJolla, California; and Capt. Joseph Milligan, USAF, Annandale, N.J. Mets won, 3-0. --- Image by � Bettmann/CORBIS

[Guest d'Kong76]

[u:4tfwyo7t]Wikipee[/u:4tfwyo7t]: Former Japanese Prime Minister ?kuma Shigenobu was the first person
to throw a ceremonial first pitch, doing so at a 1908 game in Koshien Japan.