Sick Teenager Throws Out First Pitch From 1,800 Miles Away With Help From Google Robot

by abournenesn

Jun 12, 2013

A young baseball fan got the opportunity of a lifetime on Wednesday night when he threw out the first pitch at the Yankees-Athletics game — and he did it from halfway across the country.

Nick LeGrande, 13, was recently diagnosed with a blood disorder called aplastic anemia which weakens his immune system to the point where he is unable to be around large crowds.

With help from A’s reliever Ryan Cook, Google Fiber’s Kansas City headquarters set up a miniature baseball stadium at their office near where LeGrande’s family lives for him to toss the ceremonial first pitch. With the use of telerobotics, LeGrande’s movements were instantly transmitted from the Kansas City baseball field to a robotic arm set up on the mound at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland. The robot delivered LeGrande’s pitch right into Cook’s glove behind the plate just after the A’s and Yankees finished their warmups.

Check out a photo of Cook just after catching LeGrande’s first pitch in the tweet below.

[tweet https://twitter.com/KLongworthCSN/status/344997563314876419 align=’center’%5D

Watch the video below to hear more of LeGrande’s story.

Photo of the Night

This is what the weather looked like in Chicago during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Chicago Lightning

Photo via Twitter/@BuzzFeedSports

Tweet of the Night

A decent assessment of the Blackhawks winger’s playoff mullet.

[tweet https://twitter.com/GlobeChadFinn/status/344984741109460993 align=’center’]

Video of the Night

Washington Nationals’ Ross Ohlendorf has a pretty old-school windup.

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