Moves for Seniors Blog

The ceremonial first pitch is, by and large, the single most revered sports ritual in American culture. You don’t have to be a baseball fan to know that every major league game begins with an initial pitch from a guest of honor – anyone from U.S. Presidents to Hollywood celebrities to the local town hero.

Needless to say, the opportunity to toss that first pitch from the mound is a historically coveted and highly respected honor. It always has been, ever since President William Howard Taft etched his name in the annals of American baseball history when he became the first U.S. President to throw the pitch on Opening Day in 1910.

That was 105 years ago.

The ceremonial first pitch may be one of baseball’s oldest traditions, but in July of 2013 at a Seattle Mariners game, it was performed perfectly by a guest of honor three times its senior — and on her birthday, too.

Trumping the previous record set by 105 year old Agnes McKee last summer, 108 year old Evelyn Jones is now officially the oldest person to ever throw a ceremonial first pitch at a Major League Baseball game. A dedicated Mariners fan since the creation of the team in 1977 (she was 70 years old at the time), Jones threw the pitch while sporting a custom Mariners jersey that dons her surname.

It wasn’t exactly the type of pitch you’d expect from a 108 year old woman, either. Jones has moxie. She seems well-practiced, as if she had been training for this very moment since 1907. It’s believable, too – Jones reportedly takes the sport so seriously that she adamantly insists on watching it alone at her retirement community to avoid pesky interruptions.

Not only can Jones pitch a baseball with precision, but she’s got a wit about her that’s equally as sharp. When asked about the secret to her longevity, Jones responded, “Keep having birthdays.”