Master Chief Petty Officer Russell Smith, of the Navy, grew up playing youth baseball in California.
On Wednesday night he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Nationals Park just minutes before Max Scherzer, his favorite Washington player, took the mound to face the St. Louis Cardinals. Smith has spent a lot of time around Navy SEALS in his career and can relate to St. Louis native Scherzer.
“He is the ultimate competitor,” Smith said of Scherzer. “He has that kind of spirit.”
The ceremonial pitch from Smith, who lives in Alexandria and has had season tickets for the past few years, was caught by Nationals reliever Wander Suero.
“We love the Nats,” said Smith, holding the shiny baseball Suero gave back.
As part of U.S. Navy Day, Catherine Cartmell, a religious programs specialist Second Class, presented the lineup card when the teams went over the ground rules at home plate with the umpires.
QUIZ: Can you match the nickname to the Major League Baseball player?
The color guard before the game was the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard while Musician First Class Maia Rodriguez, U.S. Navy Band, performed the national anthem.
The game ball was presented by Yeoman First Class Whitney Sisson.
The series ends Thursday at 4:05 p.m. with Stephen Strasburg on the mound for the Nationals. Washington entered Wednesday with a record of 12-16 and Scherzer allowed three runs in the top of the first inning.
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