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Dumont to throw first pitch for Red Sox

Simon Dumont will be throwing the first pitch at Fenway Park on Friday

Originally Published: September 15, 2011
By John Symms | ESPN.com

Red Bull Content PoolMaine native Simon Dumont will be rooting for the Boston Red Sox Friday night.

In a freeskiing first, Simon Dumont will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park this Friday before the Boston Red Sox face the Tampa Bay Rays.

Dumont will be the first halfpipe skier to throw out a first pitch at a Major League Baseball game. Others to receive that honor at Fenway this season include 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley and Tom Willis, an armless man who used his foot to throw the first pitch for the Red Sox July 7 game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Other action sports athletes have had similar honors: Tony Hawk threw the first pitch at a San Diego Padres versus Florida Marlins game on Aug. 19. And earlier this year, Keri Herman and Colby James West presented the game ball at a Denver Nuggets game that took place during the Winter Dew Tour opener in Breckenridge, Colo.

"I'm really looking forward to throwing the first pitch at Fenway," Dumont said of the upcoming game. The decorated freestyle skier spent a long weekend in Scottsdale, Ariz., a major Spring Training site, at the beginning of this month, leading some to speculate on just how seriously Dumont is taking the pitch.

"There is no doubt [Simon] will burn a nice two seamer right down the middle," said Jake Largess, a friend of Dumont's from childhood, after having accompanied the skier on his trip to the southwest.

A young entrepreneur, Dumont has invested in several properties, including a restaurant in Florida, the home state of the Rays. But this Northeast native won't be rooting for the away team. "Growing up in Maine," said Dumont, "I've been a New England sports fan since I was born."

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