Today the Tour for the Cure welcomes a new Tour member for the week, Mr. Michael Herman. Today we spent our time before the game at the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, which we both thought was quite disappointing—except for the fact that you can see Michael Jackson’s glove rotating inside of a glass case. We were scheduled to throw out the first pitch at tonight’s game, so I gave up my usual pitching duties and had Mike throw the first pitch out to me. I know in the past I have been made fun of my first pitches, and it’s a lot harder than it looks. I tried to pass down all my wisdom to Mike about the first pitch, telling him he should warm up first, not try to throw it too hard, follow through, snap your wrist down, etc. I don’t think he took much of the advice, as this video will show:

…Just a bit high. Let’s analyze this pitch a little more in depth—using super sophisticated Photoshop analysis. You will see in the picture below a summary of what happened with this pitch—lucky for me and my extended stretch that I was able to bring the ball back down to Earth once it was secure in my glove:

Wow! What a catch! Later on during the game, Grady Sizemore must have been inspired by that catch to make his own unbelievable catch later on in the game. I highly recommend viewing the catch here (click on “Sizemore’s grab”)—although if you watch the catch from a different angle, I’m pretty sure the ball deflects off the wall just before it hits his glove. Still, it was awesome to see.

During the game we also met John Adams, who sits way up top in the bleachers in left field—with his huge drum. He has been coming to Indians games since 1973, and bringing his drum with him, banging away for 34 years. You can hear his drumming throughout the ballpark, and it’s even louder when you sit right in front of him. John is so recognizable that the Indians had a giveaway in his honor—a “BobbleArms.” You can read more about him here on the Indians website.

Thanks so much to Kate for getting us on the field tonight and getting us a great item for our end of the year online auction!