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(July 19th) We just finished the last game of the first half yesterday. My team, our fans and I had the great honor of having Nolan Ryan with us before the game. Nolan Ryan is a person who I respect as much as anyone that I???ve ever met in my life. He was a great competitor that I was in uniform with. And of course, he is one of the greatest pitchers of all time. In his illustrious career, he had over 5,000 strike outs in over 300 wins. He is also the all-time leader in no-hitters with 7 and the most one-hitters with 12. He was selected into the Hall of Fame in 1999.
He was with us on behalf of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) to promote better products that are now reentered into Japan. I was there to help in any way that I can with the luncheon before the game and pre-game ceremonies.
The pre-game ceremonies included Nolan throwing the first pitch. He still has an amazing arm at 60-years old! In street clothes and in front of the mound, he wound up to throw the first pitch ceremony. Everyone told him that he should warm up and try to throw as hard as he can - he threw 85 mph (about 137 km/hr).
I was the ceremonial first hitter and to my surprise, the ball came right at my head. Luckily, I was able to duck and get out of the way so that I only came out with a sore back after being surprised.
Winding up for the first pitch!
Indeed, the entire day was fabulous! It capped off with my players getting autographs and photographs with Nolan as well as winning the game by 3 to 1 behind great pitching by the young Naruse. Naruse just won the best pitcher in the pacific league in the first half with a good ERA.
Thank you for checking my blog!
Talk to you soon,
Bobby
Commit to your passions - Passionately pursue your commitments
