Woman celebrates 109th birthday by tossing first pitch at minor league game
Apr 8, 2011, 10:08 AM EDT
Not only was Violet Smith around the last time the Cubs won the World Series (she was six), but she predates the Cubs themselves — they were called the Chicago Orphans the year she was born. There were also no New York Yankees that year, and the T206 Honus Wagner baseball card had not yet been printed. And now, 109 years later, Smith was throwing out the first pitch at a ballgame for the Great Lakes Loons of the Class-A Midwest League.
Smith bounced the opening day-delivery to the catcher, but it still made it (better than Adam Carolla). Her 72-year-old son was with her on the field. (Mendelbaum! Mendelbaum! …)
“When I think about it, no, I don’t think I’m nervous,” she said before the pitch. “It’s never something I thought I’d do.”
The Loons play in Midland, about 100 miles Northwest of Detroit. They lost to the Lake County Captains, 13-3. Smith couldn’t be used because she was on a strict pitch count limit of one.
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Woman, 109, throws first pitch at minor league game [MSNBC]
She’s still got it: Woman throws honorary first pitch of the season on her 109th birthday [London Daily Mail]
