Erik Bua's prowess on the mound, and love of a certain sandwich, lead to a ceremonial pitching gig with the Devil Rays.
By GREG AUMAN
Published June 8, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - Erik Bua is about to enjoy a brush with celebrity status, and the ace pitcher for Ridgewood High already knows something: It tastes a bit like chicken.
Bua, who ended his senior season with 20 consecutive scoreless innings, will make one more pitch - and a high-profile one at that.
He will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Tropicana Field when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays host the Florida Marlins on June 25.
"I was pretty shocked," said Bua, who got a phone call June 1 from the Rays marketing department informing him of the pre-game gig.
Bua's right arm has earned him headlines this spring as one of the county's most dominant pitchers, but it was his mouth that caught the Rays' attention.
After Bua threw a no-hitter and a five-inning perfect game in back-to-back starts last month, he was asked by reporters if the historic gems had anything in common.
Well, Bua explained, he went to Boston Market and had a Chicken Carver sandwich before both games, following his superstitious routine right down to the side order of cinnamon apples.
A facilities manager for Boston Market saw the story in the Times and called area manager Joe Alvarez, wondering if there was any way to thank a loyal customer for the free publicity. Next came a call from the Rays, who also had seen the article and suggested Bua throw out the first pitch.
"We just thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could honor this kid in some way,' " Alvarez said. "We thought it was neat that he said he stopped at Boston Market, and you know, it could be that Chicken Carvers cause you to pitch perfect games."
Rams coach Larry Beets said Bua was beaming with excitement when he came to work at a baseball camp Wednesday and was not the least bit nervous about tossing a pitch in front of thousands of fans.
"He was all pumped up, and I told him he should be," Beets said. "He said, "Coach, I'm going to gas it,' and I told him just to try to throw it somewhere around the plate. Maybe Big Lou (Piniella) will see him and say, "Hey, I like what I see.' "
Bua, who finished the season 11-0 with a 0.66 ERA, will attend Florida Southern on an academic scholarship in the fall. He has talked with coaches there and will try to earn a spot on the team as a preferred walk-on.
Alvarez said when Bua makes his ceremonial pitch, Boston Market will present him with gift certificates for one Carver combo every week for the rest of the year.
Bua, showing his smarts still can trump his appetite, said he'll check first to make sure accepting the gift doesn't jeopardize his amateur status for college baseball.
Either way, he'll enjoy his chance to shine on a big-league baseball field.
"I'm going to throw it as hard as I can," said Bua, whose fastball has topped out in the upper 80s. "Hopefully I don't throw it to the backstop."
