President Salovey takes the mound at Marlins game

President Peter Salovey’s years playing Little League baseball undoubtedly came in handy during his Major League debut on June 1, when he threw the opening pitch for the Marlins-Pirates game in Miami, Florida. (Watch the video.)

Salovey was invited to take the mound by Marlins owner and Yale parent Jeffrey H. Loria ’62. It was not Loria’s first salute to the Yale president; in 2013 Loria dedicated a sculpture on the Yale campus to Salovey in honor of his inauguration.

Nor was it Salovey’s first time on the mound; last June, he threw out the first pitch at an exhibition game commemorating 150 years of baseball between Yale and Wesleyan universities. Nevertheless, the president took the time to perfect his throw prior to the game in Miami, with the help of Marlins president David Samson, also a Yale parent.

Salovey, who has declared his love for baseball in all its forms (cheering, in particular, for the Yale and Red Sox teams) now has a reason to add his name to the roster of the South Florida team’s fans — joining Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway, who threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Marlins game last summer.

The Marlins beat the Pirates 3–2.