Pitch for Awareness
National Tour
November 15, 2018
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Many thanks for your continued support of the PFA tour!
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Greetings from the Pitch for Awareness national tour (PFA).

Not much has happened since I last posted in June 2015.  I did get one more pitch – at the Atlanta Braves in July 2015 – bringing my total to 24 stadiums.  
(A big shout out to David and Penelope Schmidt in Georgia for securing my pitch invite in Atlanta.)

I still have 6 more teams to go – NY Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, MN Twins, CO Rockies, Oakland Athletics, and the LA Angels.  Each of these teams has
turned down my pitch request multiple times in the past.  So I am always looking for new ways to get my pitching foot in the door with any/all of them.  If
you have any ideas, please share them with me.

It was also a tough couple of years for me personally.  In spring 2017 I lost my best friend to cancer.  And a year later my mom passed away at the age of
90.  As a result, my heart just wasn’t into baseball.

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One of my goals for the PFA tour was to be the first person to throw out a first pitch at all 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) stadiums.  Unfortunately,
someone beat me to it.

Hailey Dawson is 8 years old.  Born with an underdeveloped right hand, she was fitted with a robotic hand made by a 3-D printer.  Hailey dreams of one
day pitching in the big leagues.  So she set out to pitch at all 30 MLB stadiums.  Long story short – she beat me to it.

Here’s her story

So while I won’t be the first person at the finish line, I hope to someday cross that threshold.  Being the first was one of my goals, but not the only goal.  I
hope to visit more stadiums so that, like Hailey, I can continue to spread my message of the awareness of the ABILITIES of persons with disabilities.

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Although I wasn’t on the field for the past 3 seasons, I have been in the stands for several MLB occasions.

The 2016 MLB All Star game was held at Petco Park here in San Diego.  I had the good fortune of meeting Mary and Lisa at Fan Fest earlier that week and
through Lisa’s generosity, I got to attend my first All Star game.

Later that season, again through Lisa, I attended my very first MLB playoff game and got to root for my Washington Nationals when they played game 4 of
the NLDS against the LA Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.  Unfortunately the Nats lost 6-5 that day, and eventually lost the series to the Dodgers.

The 2017 season brought another first – my first World Series game.  Again through Lisa’s generosity, I was back at Dodger Stadium to watch game 2 of
the series that pitted the Dodgers against the Houston Astros.  The game was like a heavyweight slugfest with several home runs and multiple lead
changes.  Finally in the 11th inning, the Astros landed the final blow and walked away with a 7-6 victory.

And this season (2018), just like the Dodgers, I was back at game 5 of the World Series.  This time I got to watch the Boston Red Sox win the World Series.  
It made for a lot of unhappy Dodger fans, but it made for much less traffic on the way out after the game.

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Back to the PFA tour – I have some “new leads” for pitch invites, and I will set the wheels in motion this off-season.  Depending on my success, it may be
my last season.  I turn 60 in March, so retirement from the baseball diamond begins to appear on the horizon.  But I promise to give it my all to try and
reach the elusive 6 teams that remain.

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season.  Stay safe.

Cheers!
TOM