NFL All-Pro Antonio Gates to Throw Out First Pitch at PPBA Opening Ceremonies
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
Bat will meet ball and it will be fun for all Saturday morning as a new Pacific Palisades Baseball Association season begins with the traditional pancake breakfast on the outdoor basketball courts at the Palisades Recreation Center’s Field of Dreams this Saturday, March 16, from 7:30 to 10 a.m. Tickets are $5 and help to pay for field maintenance and team uniforms.
UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital is the lead sponsor with a donation of $2,500 and Pearl Dragon underwrote the tickets for $600.
Much to the delight of longtime PPBA Commissioner Bob Benton, the ceremonial first pitch will be tossed just after 9 a.m. by Los Angeles Chargers tight end Antonio Gates. The 16-year NFL veteran has been named to the Pro Bowl eight times and is a five-time All-Pro. He has caught 955 passes for 11,841 yards and is sixth in career touchdown receptions with 116, the most by a tight end in league history. He played basketball for two seasons at Kent State and, despite never playing college football, was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Chargers in 2003. He caught a career-best 13 touchdown passes in 2005, a career-high 89 passes the next year and piled up a career-most 1,157 receiving yards in 2009.
Players, coaches and families will gather for pregame meals at the tables. Top ticket sellers will win prizes and games begin promptly at 9:30.
Charlotte Lawrence, daughter of PPBA board member Bill Lawrence, will sing the national anthem. She is a recording artist with Warner Atlantic Records and is currently on tour. Breakfast co-chairs are Robyn Norris Casady and Melissa Berman.
Tickets are $5 and help to pay for Field of Dream maintenance and team uniforms.
Perhaps a result of the Los Angeles Dodgers advancing to the World Series two years in a row, participation in the local Pony league is at an all-time high with 360 players forming eight Pinto, 10 Mustang, eight Bronco and two Pony-level teams.
Last spring, Coach Tripp Nassour’s Cubs won the Pinto title, Blake Schinto’s Cubs earned the Mustang title and Brian Grimes’ Yankees won the Bronco crown.
This year’s team sponsors are 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.
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