As he walked onto the field at Yankee Stadium — the same symbolic spot he had seen Mariana Riveria, Andy Pettitte, Catfish Hunter and so many other New York Yankees greats work — Dr. Steve Libutti only had two thoughts in mind: Stand on the mound.
And don’t bounce the pitch.
It was July 30, 2019. Libutti had been given the opportunity of a lifetime: Throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium.
It wasn’t a playoff game or a meeting with the rival Boston Red Sox. In fact, most of the crowd that day likely wasn’t even paying attention.
But, for Libutti, the director of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and a lifelong New York Yankees fan, it was one shot at a moment of a lifetime.
He just wished his arm wasn’t hurting so much.
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Libutti’s brush with the big leagues came in the most modest of ways.
He had just finished a meeting with Barry Ostrowsky when the then-CEO of RWJBarnabas Health (and a huge Yankees fan himself) pulled him aside.
“He matter-of-factly said, ‘Oh, Steve, would you be willing to do me a favor?’” Libutti recalled him saying. “I have an engagement that I can’t make. Would you represent me?
“I was like, ‘Of course.’ I had no idea what he was talking about, but it’s Barry, he’s my boss, I would have done anything.”
Ostrowsky then popped the question.
“I’m supposed to throw out the first pitch at a Yankee game, and I was hoping you’d be able to do it in my stead,” Libutti recalled him saying.
“I got a lump in my throat. And then it was sheer panic.”
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Libutti remembered watching a clip when Derek Jeter talked about when President George W. Bush famously threw out the first pitch of Game 3 of the 2001 World Series.
“I recalled Jeter saying he told him: ‘You gotta throw from the mound. This is the Bronx, they’ll boo you if you don’t.’” Libutti recalled.
Bush, you may recall, threw a perfect strike. From the mound.
The pressure was on.
Libutti called an old friend who had pitched in college. He gave him some pointers and took him to a nearby field to practice. They did so nearly every day for two weeks.
By the time Libutti was scheduled to throw out the first pitch, he had the technique down. And a very sore arm.
“That was my mistake,” he said. “I practiced way too much.”
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You notice a lot of things when you take the field at Yankee Stadium.
“I got a lump in my throat. And then it was sheer panic.”
— Dr. Steve Libutti
The beautifully manicured field. The cavernous surroundings. And a Jumbotron that suddenly is featuring you.
Libutti tried to look straight ahead. At Yankees catcher Tyler Wade.
“My arm was hurting, but I remembered what Jeter had said: ‘You’ve got to pitch from the mound,’” Libutti said.
So, he did. Libutti used the form his friend had taught him and used everything he had to fire the ball to Wade, squatting 60 feet, 6 inches away. …
What happened next is part of the Libutti family lore.
Did it get there? Let’s just say professional catchers have a way to frame pitches that make everything look like a strike. That’s the story Libutti is sticking with.
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After the pitch, Wade jogged out to the mound and greeted Libutti.
“He asked me, ‘Can we get a picture?’” Libutti recalled. “‘Of course,’ I said.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I wanted to remember it forever.”
A perfect strike.
