July 2, 2009

BRONX, N.Y. - Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, July 1, before the Yankees' 4-2 win in the Bronx against the Seattle Mariners.

"I am delighted that the Yankees have chosen to honor Fordham's contribution to the great American pastime," Father McShane said before the game. "I hope to do Fordham proud in my fifteen seconds on the mound."

Father McShane's honor commemorates the 150th anniversary of baseball at Fordham. That rich history includes Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch, the Fordham Flash; Esteban Bellán, the first Latin American to play professional baseball in the United States; Coach Jack Coffey, the inspiration for Coffey Field and the only major leaguer to play with Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth in the same season; Vin Scully, a second-string outfielder who went on to become the legendary voice of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers and Michael Kay, Yankees play-by-play announcer on the YES Network.

Fordham's winning tradition continued this past Catholic High School Athletic Association season, in which Fordham Preparatory School captured its first CHSAA championship since 1992. The Fordham Prep Baseball Team will also be honored on the field at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night, as part of the Yankees' "Field of Dreams" program.

Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to approximately 14,700 students in its four undergraduate colleges and its six graduate and professional schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan, a campus in Westchester, and the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y.