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Mayor league pitching
By Times staff writer © St. Petersburg Times, published March 31, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- Outgoing St. Petersburg Mayor David Fischer will toss out the first pitch at Tuesday night's Tampa Bay Devil Rays season opener -- and his successor will catch it, the team announced Friday. Using a St. Petersburg mayor for the first pitch on opening day is a first for the team. Fischer has thrown out the first pitch at Devil Rays games in Tropicana Field and at Florida Power Park, but never on opening day. Catching the pitch will be one of the first official duties for Rick Baker, who was elected mayor last Tuesday and will be sworn in Sunday. "Rick Baker (who stands 6-foot-6) told me he's got a pretty good wingspan," Fischer said. "I told him he's going to need it, because there's no telling where that ball will go." As for whether Baker can catch it, "it depends on the pitch," Baker said Friday. "If he throws it into the dirt, just get out of the way." The team also announced that the singing group Men of Note, who perform regularly at Busch Gardens, will perform the Canadian and United States national anthems before the 7:15 p.m. game at Tropicana Field in downtown St. Petersburg. Tickets still are available.
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