An El Paso Chihuahuas First Pitch Nearly Five Years in the Making
Over the years, I have thrown out plenty of ceremonial first pitches at El Paso Diablos baseball games. However, I had not yet had the opportunity to do the same thing with the Chihuahuas. One big reason was that we broadcast live from Southwest University Park on Tuesdays when 600 ESPN El Paso sponsors the T-Shirt giveaways. There is hardly any time to make it down to the field in order to throw out the first pitch.
This past Tuesday was a little different. I was celebrating my 44th birthday by hosting Sportstalk live from the ballpark and spoke to the Chihuahuas' marketing team about throwing out the first pitch prior to their game against Colorado Springs. After working out some technological details with our chief engineer, I would have the ability to broadcast from the field in high quality using a special app and WiFi that connected me to the radio station.
The best part of the experience was when I told my son Joel that he would be throwing out the pitch instead of me. I had asked him who he wanted to make the throw to the catcher and he told me that I should do it, since it was my birthday. However, he is about to celebrate his fifth birthday in a few weeks and I thought this would be the perfect time to let him have an early gift. Right before they introduced me, I gave Joel the baseball and told him that I wanted him to have the experience of throwing out the first pitch. I had also spoken with the team about my plan, so they had his name on the video board.
It was one of the moments you cherish as a father. I am lucky to have a job where I can share so much of what I do with my son. I have so many great memories of my dad and sports was a big part of it. However, thanks to digital technology and social media, Joel will be able to look back at so many priceless moments of his childhood captured through photos and videos.