A's fan uses robot to throw first pitch

I've been a baseball fan all my life and as many who know me can attest, a bit of a techno-nerd. Well, both of those sides of me got quite a treat Wednesday night.

From some 1,800 miles away in Kansas City, 13-year-old Nick LeGrande threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Yankees-Athletics game.

Into the glove of A's reliever Ryan Cook, in Oakland. It was all made possible by a telerobotic pitching machine, and is believed to be a baseball first when it comes to ceremonial first pitches.

A first pitch from across the country -- a neat new concept, indeed.

"Really neat use of technology to help a young man realize his dream of throwing a pitch from a 'major league' mound, while also bringing awareness to the need for bone marrow donors," Nevada Tigers head coach Danny Penn said. "It shows how sports can be a welcome distraction or getaway when dealing with such serious ordeals."

LeGrande is an A's fan with a rare blood disorder called severe aplastic anemia, and the former Little Leaguer's illness no longer allows him to attend games.

LeGrande and his family, including parents Mike and Shari, were taken to a mini baseball stadium. It was constructed by Google at its Kansas City offices -- a location close to LeGrande's home and Children's Mercy Hospital, where he receives treatment.

Nick's friends, doctors and former teammates were all there to watch his milestone moment.

At the same in the Bay Area, a telerobotic pitching machine was placed on the pitcher's mound at the Oakland Coliseum to follow the teen's movements. The technology allowed Nick to simultaneously throw the pitch and watch it happen from afar.

In explaining the process, Google officials said Nick used an Android application that allowed him to control the movements of the robot in Oakland, which was equipped with a camera that gave him a livestreaming view of the stadium. Before the pitch, Cook introduced, "Nick, in his Major League debut," and a video of the teen's life was played on the Coliseum's two main scoreboards.

Video of Nick's pitch was then shown on those same screens, live from Kansas City as he threw the pitch into Cook's glove.

The whole thing was made possible by the efforts of Cook, whose girlfriend's sister works for an advertising agency connected with Google. Oakland officials don't know of any time this has been done before.

As the right-hander threw his pitch, the Coliseum erupted with cheers from fans, who jumped to their feet in support. Cook then told the teen he would have a ball signed by all of the A's to present to Nick when the team travels to Kansas City, from July 5-7.

Before the historic event happened, Nick had no idea any such thing was even in the works. It wasn't until about 6 p.m., local time, Wednesday, that he was told he would be throwing out the first pitch.

An hour later, the young baseball fanatic made history. Nick's pitch has become national new overnight, earning it's own Twitter hash tag -- NicksFirstPitch -- and being chronicled on his Google website, http://fiber.google.com/about/nicksfirstpitch/.