Balls and Strikes

NFL Star Antonio Gates Throws First Pitch to Open PPBA Season

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Antonio Gates has made a career of catching the ball, but last Saturday morning he got a standing ovation for a throw over the plate to officially begin the 2019 Pacific Palisades Baseball Association season.

Players and their families enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes, hot sausages, coffee and orange juice to celebrate the local Pony league that has been a Pacific Palisades tradition since 1954 on diamonds now known as the “Field of Dreams” at the Palisades Recreation Center.

Commissoner Bob Benton got the festivities started shortly after 9 o’clock and couldn’t hide his enthusiasm while introducing the Los Angeles Chargers tight end, a 16-year NFL veteran who has been named to the Pro Bowl eight times and is a five-time All-Pro. Gates has caught 955 passes for 11,841 yards, is sixth in career touchdown receptions with 116 (the most by a tight end in league history) and is likely to end up in the Hall of Fame. Not bad for someone who, as Benton pointed out, never played college football.     

“I was expecting it to be a real mound but this is great… it’s like a catch and throw in the backyard,” said Gates, a friend and business associate of Pinto Dodgers head coach Basil Iwanyk, whose wife Natalie was one of the pancake breakfast co-chairs last season. “Our generation, you did everything growing up—baseball, basketball, track, football, whatever was in season. Staying inside was boring to me. Everything now is about the look and the brand. Back then it was more about comfort and support. Kids now are terrific, they are into so many things, and I enjoy talking to them about sports because it’s been such a big part of my life. You just have to learn to adapt to what they do to try to get the same results.”

Gates, who is left-handed, played first base but football and basketball overshadowed baseball once he got to high school. Now 38, the Encino resident recalled his two seasons as a power forward for the Kent State University men’s basketball team in Northern Ohio. In 2002, the team advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed, with Gates leading the way and earning Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention

Gates is the first athlete to throw out the first pitch at the PPBA since former Los Angeles Kings star Luc Robitaille did the honors in 2016.

“I’m so excited that everyone is here this morning… this is my 31st year running this program and I’ve never been more proud,” Benton said. He then gave heartfelt thanks to the coaches, umpires, maintenance crew staff and this year’s Pancake Breakfast co-chairs Robyn Norris Casady and Melissa Berman.

Benton revealed the pancake breakfast top ticket winners and thanked each of the team sponsors: Amalfi Estates, Barney’s Beanery, Dr. Gary Polan, Dr. Marta Ward, Dr. Steven Lee, Dr. Zapatero, Gerry Blanck’s Martial Arts Center, Kay N’ Dave’s, Marc Michel Eyewear, Movies in the Park, O’Keefe Properties, Pacific Palisades Medical Group, Palisades Garden Cafe, Pearl Dragon, Skinner Vineyards, StorQuest Self Storage, Sue Kohl/Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, The Agency/Santiago Arana, The Feil Group, The Golden Bull, The Oppenheim Group, The Optimist Club, Palisadian-Post, US Bank, Village 76 and The Yogurt Shoppe.

Charlotte Lawrence, daughter of PPBA board member Bill Lawrence, delivered a stirring rendition of the national anthem. She grew up watching games at the Rec Center and is currently a recording artist with Warner Atlantic Records.           

Perhaps a result of the LA Dodgers advancing to the World Series two years in a row, PPBA participation is at an all-time high with eight Bronco and Pinto teams, 10 Mustang teams and two Pony level teams.