The pitch came in sidearm – and no one recorded it on the speed gun. It was the slightest bit low and away. But it was perfect. It was the first pitch of the first game of the San Francisco Giants’ home schedule, but there won’t be a better, more miraculous, more appreciated effort hurled at Oracle Park all season long. The man who threw it, Bryan Stow, told me this week the accuracy of his pitch “could’ve been better.” In truth, like with many things in Stow’s life, it could have turned out a whole lot worse. Ten years have passed since Stow, a lifelong Giants supporter, was on the receiving end of a horrific attack by two Los Angeles Dodgers fans in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium. The beating put him into a coma, left the then-42-year-old fighting for his life and shocked baseball. Back then, it was unthinkable that he’d ever be able to have a moment like on April 9, when he stood in front of the mound before the Giants took on the Colorado Rockies, held the ball aloft to cheers from the restricted crowd of 7,390, and sent it in the direction of Alyssa Nakken, who became Major League Baseball’s first full-time female coach in 2020. “It was a great, great time,” Stow said, sporting a huge grin. “The Giants players all waved to me. It was amazing.” At the start of this year, when members of the Giants staff decided that resiliency would be their cultural theme for the season, Stow’s name immediately came up as the perfect choice for the opening day ceremonial toss. “No one is more resilient than Bryan,” his mother, Ann Stow, said. “Things are still really hard. But he has done incredibly well over the past few years. He has made a lot of progress with what he can and can’t do, although other people notice it more than us because we see him every day.” I have known the Stow family for nearly seven years, ever since I wrote about Bryan for a feature story in 2014. Back then he was rooting for the Giants to win the World Series that season, which they eventually would. It was the team’s third triumph in five years, but he had no recollection of the previous two because of the extent of his brain injuries. “I know they won it,” he said then. “But I don’t really remember it. I want to see it happen again.” Thanks in large part to Madison Bumgarner’s short-rest epic performance in Game 7, he did. To get to know the Stows is to befriend them. They’re warm and welcoming and infallibly kind, and Bryan’s infectious sense of humor persists, despite the life-altering card he was dealt on that fateful evening a decade ago. Bryan still lives with Ann and his father Dave at their home in Capitola, California, where they have provided him care and support ever since. There is still a long road ahead following the severe physical and cognitive damage he suffered, but things have taken a positive turn and further improvements are hoped for. When he threw out the first pitch, Stow used a walker, but he typically doesn’t need one any longer, moving steadily with crutches or a cane. “The walker was mostly so he had something to support his left side when he made the throw,” Ann Stow said. “He’s doing well.” Such things are, of course, relative. Stow spent months in the hospital after the attack and was mostly wheelchair bound for several years. Now he gets himself into and out of bed and takes short local trips – his mom takes him to the mall to walk around, or picturesque Capitola Village, where everyone knows him. He looks forward to resuming his weekly visits to the movies, where action and horror are his preferred genres. He talks with pride of his son, now 22, a personal trainer who is soon due to be married. He often visits a nearby friend to hang out and talk – and watch baseball. Does he still love baseball? “Duh,” Stow smiled. There are a lot of ways to tell his story. You can go hard news and look at the legalities and the punishment given to the perpetrators and the lawsuit filed against the Dodgers. For me, it will always be a human story about a man whose life was irreparably changed, but who remains committed to getting the absolute most from each day. Stow is great company, always ready to talk about sports, films, family or yep, you guessed it, baseball. Especially baseball. Always baseball. The Giants organization looks very different these days, with a vastly changed roster and a different front office to that in place in 2011. But Stow remains a cherished and welcomed friend of the franchise and CEO Larry Baer recently promised that if the team makes it to the World Series, Stow will be back, throwing out another first pitch. With the team picked to finish behind the big spending Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the National League West, such an outcome is not likely (FOX Bet lists the Giants as 26th favorites to win it all, at +12000). But hey, heading into Thursday’s games they were 8-4. And if the squad needed any reminder on opening day that anything is possible, all they had to do was pay attention to the first pitch. Here’s what others have said … Madeline Holcombe, CNN: “After 10 years and what doctors called a miraculous recovery from severe brain and spinal injuries, Stow was on the pitcher’s mound Friday. Since the attack, Stow has spoken to communities and schools through the Bryan Stow Foundation, advocating for an end to bullying and fan violence and encouraging people to live kinder lives.” Erin Collins, Bryan Stow’s Sister: “It was just day-by-day. From praying we would see movement behind his eyelids, praying that his eyes would open and the doctors could never tell us how far he would come. So every step has been a miracle.” Bruce Bochy, Former Giants Manager: “It’s Opening Day and we lost the game and then we got the news about what happened to Bryan and it changed everything with the mood. You just realized, we’re playing a game and this poor man gets hit from behind and just gets beat up so badly and it’s incredible the recovery he has made.” |
