Feb. 14, 2011

WASHINGTON - The calendar is just hitting nearly the middle of the second month of the year, but members of the Georgetown baseball team were able to learn first-hand what it takes to succeed not only on the field, but in life and in the classroom, at the team's Annual First Pitch Dinner last weekend.

The Seventh Annual First Pitch Dinner was held on Saturday, Feb. 5, with long-time Major League Baseball pitcher Jamie Moyer serving as the keynote speaker. The First Pitch Dinner, hosted by Hoyas Unlimited, also featured a silent auction that included vacation getaways and Major League Baseball tickets. Former Georgetown baseball player Tim Brosnan, the current Executive Vice President for Business Affairs at Major League Baseball, and one of the creators of the MLB television network, also spoke to the group of more than 200 people.

Moyer, currently a free agent, is the oldest active player in the major leagues and has the most wins, losses and strikeouts of any active Major League pitcher. He has pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners and the Philadelphia Phillies. Moyer pitched for the Phillies for five years and was a member of the 2008 World Series Champions.

"I was a pretty good athlete and I grew up in a small town like a lot of these guys," Moyer said. "But I didn't apply myself like I should have when I was in school and I didn't have the opportunity to play pro ball and I had to look at going to school."

Moyer had been planning on attending a local junior college near his hometown in Pennsylvania, but ended up playing at St. Joseph's University in Pennsylvania, where he attended night school, worked in the day, went to practice, and then was in class at night. "It really put things in perspective for me," Moyer said. "But all the things I was told I couldn't do - I was too short, I didn't throw hard enough - I had to say, `Nothing's going to stop me.'"

He made the All-Star team while pitching for the Mariners, but has also won numerous awards for philanthropy and community service, including the 2003 Roberto Clemente Award (presented to the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship and community involvement), the 2003 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award (presented by Phi Delta Theta fraternity to a player to who best exemplify the character of Gehrig on and off the field), the 2003 Hutch Award (presented to the player who best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire of Fred Hutchison, a former major league manager who died of cancer in 1964) and the 2004 Branch Rickey Award (given to a player in recognition of exception community service).

"It's all about the opportunity," Moyer said. "And it's the opportunity in life that you have to take advantage of and it's understanding where you are, and the guys playing now, you have a really good opportunity in front of you. It'll be life-long memories and that's how my career went. Playing professionally was pretty special for me."

Prior to Moyer taking the stage, the audience had a chance to hear from Brosnan, who played baseball during his time at Georgetown.

"I can't tell you how proud I am, I am almost gushing when I come back, about Georgetown University," Brosnan said. "But every time I come here, I think about my experience and it was without question, the best four years of my life. I wish I knew now what I knew then, but what I wouldn't change and was the best part and the most valuable part of it, was the four years I got to play ball here. I don't regret anything about it."

Award winners for the 2010 season were also recognized. Recent graduate Bill Concannon was recognized for having the best grade-point average on the team, but was also voted, for the fourth-straight year, the Most Valuable Teammate. Chip Malt was recognized for the best career grade-point average, Tim Adleman, currently playing in the Baltimore Orioles system, was the recipient of the team's Most Valuable Pitcher Award, sophomore Neal Dennison was named the team's top rookie and junior outfielder Rand Ravnaas was named the team's Most Valuable Player.