O.J. and Chanda Brigance deliver another moving Orioles first pitch ceremony
Ravens executive O.J. Brigance, a former linebacker battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease whose presence inspired current players during last season’s Super Bowl run, and his wife Chanda participated in the first pitch ceremony before Thursday evening’s Orioles game for Major League Baseball’s 4 ALS initiative and ALS Awareness Month. The Brigances’ appearance was the latest in a series of moving first pitch ceremonies at Camden Yards.
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- Chanda Brigance lets her husband O.J Brigance handle the ball before she threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Thursday evening’s Orioles game against the Washington Nationals at Camden Yards. The ceremony was part of programming for Major League Baseball’s 4-ALS initiative and helped mark ALS Awareness Month. O.J Brigance, a Ravens adviser and former Ravens and Baltimore Stallions player, has been battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis for more than 5 years. The incurable and lethal condition, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, weakens and eventually kills the brain’s motor neurons, shutting down muscle function. (Gene Sweeney Jr./Baltimore Sun)
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- Chanda Brigance throws out the first pitch prior to Thursday evening’s Orioles game versus the Washington Nationals at Camden Yards. She and her husband founded the Brigance Brigade Foundation to encourage and empower people living with ALS. (Joy R. Absalon/USA Today Sports)
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- O.J. Brigance watches as his wife Chanda delivers the ceremonial first pitch. (Joy R. Absalon/USA Today Sports)
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- Chanda Brigance at the foot of the mound for the first pitch. (Joy R. Absalon/USA Today Sports)
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- O.J. and Chandra Brigance at the mound for the first pitch ceremony. Their foundation also helps fund ALS research. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
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- Tom Willis of San Diego, who was born without arms, throws out the ceremonial first pitch with his foot before the start of the Orioles and Kansas City Royals game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 8. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
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- Willis has thrown out the first pitch at several major league parks to demonstrate what people with disabilities are capable of. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun)
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- Mike Weaver, the son of legendary Orioles manager Earl Weaver, who died in January, throws out the first pitch before the second game of an April 20 doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
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- Longtime Oriole Park usher Charlie “Zillbilly” Zill, who entertained crowds by dressing in overalls and pretending to play a fake fiddle during the seventh inning stretch playing of “Thank God I’m A County Boy,” throws the ceremonial first pitch April 17. Zill, who battled lung cancer for three and a half years, died less than two weeks later. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- Zill smiles after throwing the first pitch. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- Prior to this year’s April 5 home opener, in memory of Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, who died in January, the Orioles laid a ball on the mound rather than hold a traditional ceremonial first pitch. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun)
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- Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson delivers the first pitch Sept. 29, the night his statue was unveiled in the garden beyond Oriole Park’s bullpens. The ceremony was postponed earlier in the year so that Robinson could recover from health issues. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
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- Former Orioles manager Earl Weaver, who died in January at age 82, throws out the first pitch June 30, the night his statue was unveiled in Camden Yards’ Legends garden. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun)
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- Perry Hall High School shooting victim Daniel Borowy and guidance counselor Jesse Wasmer, who tackled the gunman, each throw a pitch in a ceremony before the Orioles’ Oct. 7 American League Division Series game against the New York Yankees. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- Daniel Borowy and his father embrace after the first pitch. Borowy, a special education student who has Down syndrome, required several blood transfusions and three surgeries after being shot in the cafeteria on the first day of school. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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