Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Forney Youth Baseball Association’s (FYBA) first Challenger League game of the fall season. Forney's Mayor Darren Rozell will be at home plate to catch the pitch.
Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Forney Youth Baseball Association’s (FYBA) first Challenger League game of the fall season. Forney's Mayor Darren Rozell will be at home plate to catch the pitch.
The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown out at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, September 8, 2012, at Mulberry Park Field #8. Mulberry Park is located at 751 Bois d'Arc Street in Forney, Texas. The Challenger League game will begin afterwards at 9:00 a.m.
Fingers, a three-time World Series champion, will also be available for a meet-and-greet during the game, as part of a fundraiser organized by the Dallas office of international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in support of the league. Rollie Fingers was the pitcher for the Oakland Athletics from 1968-76, the San Diego Padres from 1977-80, and the Milwaukee Brewers from 1981-85. Fingers is also a 3 Time World Series Champion, A.L. World Series MVP, Cy Young Awardee, 16 World Series appearances, All-Tim Major League Leader with 341 Career Saves, 1 of 8 MLB players to have his number retired by two different teams, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.
The Challenger League is a separate division of the FYBA that provides school-aged boys and girls with physical and mental challenges the opportunity to enjoy the great game of baseball amongst their peers. Players on FYBA Challenger teams are given hats and t-shirts and play on FYBA fields with regular baseball gear and safety equipment. FYBA is able to offer the Challenger League free of charge to special-needs children. An added benefit to having a Challenger Division is that it encourages the use of “buddies” for Challenger players. The buddies, generally older FYBA players, assist Challenger players on the field.
This event is one in a series of fundraising events organized by Weil employees taking part in a firm-wide “Pay it Forward” program in order to support local community organizations that are typically underfunded. Game attendees are encouraged to purchase raffle tickets for signed memorabilia and other items, and/or to make donations to the Challenger League, to help fund free participation for more interested children.
Weil’s “Pay It Forward” initiative, inspired by Catherine Ryan Hyde’s 2000 book, “Pay It Forward,” is meant to tap into the creative, entrepreneurial talents of the firm’s employees, with the goal of extending the reach of the firm’s overall philanthropic endeavors. Each project begins with $1,000 in seed money donated from the firm and allocated to internal teams that submitted proposals to support a local charity. The $1,000 seed money is then leveraged through a “pay it forward” action plan developed by each team, with a goal of multiplying the seed money exponentially or providing a gift of lasting value. The initiative was launched in 2011 by the firm’s New York office, which succeeded in raising more than $175,000 for New York City-area charities.