A Win for MBU and the Cardinals

September 27, 2007

By Jacob Wilkins

Lowell Pitzer, assistant professor of health and sports sciences at MBU, delivered a ceremonial first pitch at last Sunday’s Cardinals game. The Cardinals went on to deliver later that night by winning their last home game 4-3 on the strength of a three-run ninth inning.

Pitzer’s throwing out the first pitch was one of the fun benefits of a fundraiser put on by the MBU Athletic Department. The athletic department sponsored a block of tickets to the game, which were then distributed to the various MBU sports teams to be sold.

This is the third year the athletic department has participated in this fundraiser, and this time the department stands to make around $11,000, according to Tom Smith, director of athletics at MBU. The money from this sort of fundraiser provides the means for the athletic department to purchase things like chairs and plaques, which are not covered by institutional money.

In return for sponsoring the block of tickets, MBU received a couple perks. First, the Cardinals provided a good deal of publicity. Prior to the game, six MBU representatives were welcomed, and a modified version of the MBU mission statement was read. All this was done in front of a crowd of around 20,000 people.

A further benefit was that one of the six got to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. This year, Pitzer was chosen by his colleagues to receive that honor.

Pitzer is the commissioner of the NAIA American Midwest Conference. He is also a member of the MBU Hall of Fame, and his is the only jersey to have been retired in MBU’s strong athletic history.

He had practiced the pitch a little with the baseball team for the two weeks prior to the game. When asked the important question – if it was a strike – he said, “Most people would say so.”

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