 |
 News
Skip to main content
|
 |
Below is an advertisement.
|
|
|
04/02/2004 7:48 PM ET
Chavez to be honored at opener
Former A's star Lansford to present Gold Glove
|
By Mychael Urban / MLB.com |
|
|
|
 |
|
| Surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her left arm in a shark attack last October, will throw out the first pitch Opening Night. (Ronen Zilberman/AP)
|
|
|
|
OAKLAND -- Signing Eric Chavez to a record contract extension was the biggest news of Spring Training for the A's, who have decided to make the three-time Gold Glove winner the centerpiece of the club's offense through at least the end of the decade.
So it only makes sense that Chavez will be the centerpiece of Oakland's Opening Night ceremonies before the regular season kicks off with the A's squaring off with the Rangers at 7:35 p.m. PT on April 5 at Network Associates Coliseum.
The pregame festivities start at 7:07 p.m., when a special highlight package of Chavez's accomplishments will be played on the stadium's video screens. That will be followed by the presentation of Chavez's third consecutive Gold Glove Award by former A's star third baseman Carney Lansford.
|
Barry Zito
/ P
|
|
|
|
Another of the A's young stars, 2002 American League Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito, will get into the act as well. An avid surfer, Zito will catch the ceremonial first pitch, which is scheduled to be thrown by youth surfing champion Bethany Hamilton.
Hamilton, 14, drew national attention as an inspirational figure after she nearly died when she was attacked by a shark last October in her native Hawaii. A top amateur surfer before the attack, she lost her left arm just below the shoulder but continues to amaze in the water. She recently received a prosthetic limb and has already returned to competitive surfing; in January she finished fifth in the Open Women's division at a professional meet on the Big Island.
The stadium gates will open at 5:35 p.m., and the first 25,000 fans receive an A's 2004 Rally Towel courtesy of Prilosec OTC. Members of the Pinole Valley High School Band will perform the national anthem as representatives of the West Contra Costa School District, and the United States Marines will be on hand to unfurl the American flag in center field as members of Travis Air Force Base present the color guard for the evening.
Tickets are still available online at oaklandathletics.com, at the stadium box office or by calling 510-763-BALL.
Mychael Urban is a national writer for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
|
|
|
| MLB Headlines | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
print this page