Luckily, the big secret of this year’s PPBA Pancake Breakfast didn’t get out. Hundreds of Palisadians headed to the Field of Dreams on Saturday morning to eat pancakes and revel in the opening of the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association season. It marked the 60th year of the breakfast and everyone was treated to a number of warm moments. None was more special than the ceremonial First Pitch duties, which were kept hush-hush leading up to the event. Kids ran up to PPBA commissioner Bob Benton in the moments before the pitch, asking who it would be, but to no avail. Eventually, Benton summoned longtime umpire Dirk Robinson to take the mound for the big pitch, though it was unbeknownst to Robinson. He came to Saturday’s breakfast only expecting to take a moment to thank everyone in the community for their support following his diabetes attack last summer, when $8,000 was raised in an hour and Palisadian Dr. Richard Johnson was enlisted to help treat him. After showing a big ‘Get Well Dirk’ poster and a note from PPBA players he received while in the hospital, Robinson got the chance to give thanks. ’You kids gave me the strength to do what I needed to do to get back here,’ he said. ‘I’m truly blessed. Thank you for making me feel like family ‘ I love you all.’ Then, Benton broke the news to Robinson, who happily proceeded to throw a strong pitch over the left side of the plate. ’There were a few teary cheeks,’ Benton said afterwards. ‘We’ve had some neat people throw the first pitch, but this was a first for us. It was probably the most touching open ceremony I’ve ever been a part of. And most people I talked to agreed.’ Robinson said he was ‘blown away’ after receiving the honor. ’I told Bob I wanted to say something and let the kids know how they helped me on my road to recovery,’ he told the Palisadian-Post. ‘I’ve been there on opening day and seen Ray Liotta, Maria Shriver and Chris O’Donnell throw the first pitch, and I’m thinking how I want to speak fast to make way for whoever was going to throw. ’It was fabulous ‘ Bob got me with that one,’ he said, laughing. Though there wasn’t much time to let the moment sink in’after hugging a number of players, Robinson hustled over to ump the Dodgers-Phillies Pinto game and kept going until the final Pony game of the night ended at about 8 p.m.’during his breaks, players steadily approached him, hoping for a high-five or handshake from the day’s celebrity. He couldn’t have been happier to oblige the kids that motivated him as he battled back. ’They inspired me to push myself,’ Robinson said of the outpouring of support he got while in the hospital. ‘If they can rally behind me like that, I thought, ‘You can get out there and at least try. ’I wanted to let them know how instrumental and powerful they were just by caring. I appreciate them giving me a group hug, that’s how it felt. They opened their arms for me like family.’ The breakfast was also a special occasion for another umpire: Reverend James West. Now living in Georgia, West hadn’t umped a PPBA game since 2001, but decided to fly back to join the ceremonies and reprise his duties as National Anthem singer. ’For 15 years, I looked forward to three-and-a-half months,’ West said of the PPBA season. ‘It’s powerful. And for the time I’ve been gone, I’ve always just kept looking forward to coming back. Getting to sing was just icing on the cake. ’It brings back memories. But it’s not just about baseball, it’s about all the amazing people involved here. And it’s about touching lives.’
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
