First pitch

Last Friday night, I got to do something that I never had dreamed of doing.  The Cincinnati Reds hosted our hospital's Employee Appreciation Weekend on Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon.  About a month ago, one of the organizers of the event asked me if I wanted to throw out the first pitch at the first game on Friday night (our CEO threw out the pitch on Saturday night).  It was an easy decision, and one that I made in about a millisecond.  Of course, after saying yes, I started thinking about how I would do throwing a baseball from a pitcher's mound to one of our employees (selected by random drawing) 60 feet and 6 inches away at home plate.  Oh, and did I mention that there would probably be at least 15,000 people in the stands waiting for me to screw up? 

I remembered watching a video from a few years back when our city's mayor (at the time) threw out the first pitch on Opening Day.  It wasn't pretty (check out the video here).  To borrow a quote from Bob Uecker's character in the 1989 movie, "Major League", it was "Just a bit outside."  I didn't want to make the same mistake.  So, I did practice in our front yard with my wife catching. 

I've been to enough baseball games to know that the ceremonial "first pitch" happens at least two or three times (on my night, I was the fourth person to throw out the ceremonial "first pitch", so technically, I guess it was the fourth pitch!).  I underestimated my level of adrenaline.  I threw the ball over home plate, but I was well outside of the strike zone.  In fact, the ball went right over my catcher's outstretched glove (she was jumping).  Oh well, at least I made it over the plate.

So, what did I learn from this experience?  These are all things that I've learned before, but my experience at the ball park was an important reminder of several key points.

1.  Take advantage of your opportunities.  It's not every day that get the chance to throw out the first pitch - some would argue (and I would agree) that this was a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity.  When the opportunity presents itself, say "yes".

2.  Be ready.  When you get an opportunity of a lifetime, it's important to be ready and prepare ahead of time.  Would I have been okay had I not practiced?  I don't know, but I am glad I won't find out.  I felt a whole lot more comfortable knowing that I had made several successful throws at home in my front yard.

3.  Have fun.  If you are not enjoying yourself, whose fault is it?  It's yours.  Have fun.  Relax.  And don't worry about it.

4.  Never take yourself too seriously.  It's okay to laugh at yourself.  Was it a big deal that I threw it over my catcher's head?  Probably not.  Would it have been a big deal if I had bounced the ball in front of the plate?  Probably not.  We both had fun, and we both had an experience of a lifetime.

It was a really good ending to a good week.  Oh, and if you are interested, here's a video: