SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Born without arms, a man from Mira Mesa, a neighborhood in San Diego, is now closing in on a long-held goal to toss out the ceremonial first pitch in every MLB stadium.
I first met Tom Willis in 2006. Born without arms, we followed Willis as he shared his story at local schools.
Two years later, he was invited by the San Diego Padres to throw out a ceremonial first pitch at Petco Park.
“I jumped up and down going, ‘Yeah!’” said Willis, 64.
After training with a little league coach to come up with pitch mechanics, Willis, using his feet, made the pitch.
After getting back to his seat that day, he made a remark.
“I jokingly said, ‘That was fun. I should do that in all 30 stadiums in the country,’” said Willis.
The joke quickly turned into a mission. After reaching out to teams, within the next 7 years , Willis would toss the first pitch at 24 different stadiums.
“When a person sees my pitch, I hope that they understand that persons with disabilities, have many abilities. They should be valued as people, and they’re no different than anyone else,” said Willis.
Willis' ‘Pitch For Awareness’ tour stalled in 2015, as the invites dried up.
Then two years ago came a chance meeting with Padres CEO Eric Greupner, who said he'd help out.
Soon after, the remaining teams started contacting Willis with invites.
Next Tuesday, he'll be at Yankees Stadium, stadium #29 on his list.
Willis’ extra-inning journey will then be short just one stop: Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
“I see the finish line. I’m going to get there,” said Willis.
Because of family issues, Willis hadn't had able time to try and secure the last stadium invite. His goal is to make that pitch at Angel Stadium sometime next year.
