Dean Jonathan Holloway throws the first pitch at Marlins game

Those who saw Jonathan Holloway throw the first pitch in the June 15 game between the Miami Marlins and the New York Yankees might not have guessed that the Yale College dean had rarely touched a baseball in his life.

For all his inexperience, Holloway’s pitch went off without a hitch.

The dean had been invited to throw the first pitch by the Miami team’s owner, alumnus Jeffrey H. Loria ’62, and president, David Samson (father of Yale College junior Hannah Samson and a member of the Yale Parents Leadership Council). When Samson learned that Holloway’s friend, alumnus Gaspar González Ph.D. ’06, was also at the game, he invited González to catch the Dean’s pitch.

“It wasn’t splitting atoms, but he took his responsibility seriously,” says Samson of Holloway’s pitch. “His performance showed his unique preparation.”

Holloway, an all-American football player at his Maryland high school and a linebacker during his college days at Stanford University, acknowledges that he is a baseball novice, and that he needed a little help in preparing for the big event.

“It may be hard to believe, but I had never thrown a baseball until the week before the pitch,” Holloway says. “Lots and lots of footballs, [and] plenty of softballs, but no baseballs. Coach [John] Stuper [head coach of baseball at Yale] gave me an hour of expert advice — the result of which was a basic level of confidence and a very sore arm — and then it was time to make my premiere in The Show.

“I was more or less okay until I got to the top of the mound and turned toward home,” Holloway adds. “Somehow the plate moved backward 30 feet in that moment. That’s when I felt I was in serious trouble. How do pitchers do it? Fortunately, an old friend from my grad school days at Yale, Gaspar González — now a documentary filmmaker in Miami — was there to catch my almost wild pitch. And there’s the true moral of the story: a Yalie teaching a Yalie how to get the job done, and another Yalie literally there to catch me, to make sure things turned out alright.”

Also accompanying Holloway at the game was Megan Khan, senior associate director in Yale’s Development Office, who says she was pretty nervous about the pitch on Holloway’s behalf. “I think it helped Jonathan’s nerves to be able to throw to Gaspar,” she says. “But it was a nail-biting experience for me.”

On the heels of his successful first pitch, YaleNews asked Holloway if he has an allegiance to any particular baseball team. His response reveals that he’s now over the jitters he experienced at the game.

“My baseball allegiance? Easy. Since Miami is the only team to have invited me to throw out a first pitch, the team has my total allegiance,” comments Holloway. “If another team wants to earn my support, they should know that my shoulder and arm are warmed up and ready to go.”

Asked if Holloway might have some kind of future in baseball, Samson answered: “It depends how our season shapes up. If he can throw strikes, you never know.”

The Marlins beat the Yankees in the June 15 game with a score of 2-1. A couple of days later, New York beat Miami in a game attended by President Peter Salovey, Provost Ben Polak, Yale School of Drama Dean James Bundy, and Vice President for Development Joan O’Neill, along with a host of Yale alumni. According to Khan, that group is pretty knowledgeable about baseball, so it’s possible that a first pitch may be in one of their futures as well.

Holloway, meanwhile, is resting on his laurels and says he’s likely to be making some bad baseball puns for the next couple of months.

To see Holloway’s pitch, visit the Marlins’ link.