Frankie Frisch, the Fordham Flash. (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
Joseph M. McShane, S.J., the president of Fordham University, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium tonight before the Yankees’ game against the Seattle Mariners.
The Yankees are paying tribute to the 150th anniversary of baseball at Fordham. It’s a history that includes some of Major League Baseball’s all-time greats, including Frankie Frisch, a Hall of Famer; Esteban Bellan, the first Latin American to play professional baseball in the United States; Jack Coffey, the only major leaguer to play with Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth in the same season; Vin Scully, the legendary voice of the Dodgers; and Michael Kay, the play-by-play voice of the Yankees on the YES Network. Kay mentioned during last night’s game that McShane would be throwing out the first pitch tonight.
The Fordham Prep baseball team will also be honored on the field tonight as part of the Yankees’ “Field of Dreams” program. This past spring, Fordham Prep won its first Catholic High School Athletic Association championship since 1992.
“I am delighted that the Yankees have chosen to honor Fordham’s contribution to the great American pastime,” Father McShane said in a statement posted on the university’s website, fordham.edu. “I hope to do Fordham proud in my fifteen seconds on the mound.”
(This post is a revised version of a press release posted on Fordham University’s website.)
