Blind man throws out first pitch

Steven Hopkins walked on the field at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Monday with the help of an aide and his walking stick.

Hopkins is legally blind as a result of glaucoma, but that wasn’t going to stop him from throwing out the first pitch at the Oklahoma City Dodgers game.

He works at Travis Air Force Base in California as a contractor for New View Oklahoma, the state’s largest employer of the blind and visually impaired.

The company was coming to the OKC Dodgers game and it had an opportunity for one its employees to throw out the first pitch. Hopkins was approached about the possibility of throwing the pitch, but was hesitant at first.

Then he thought about his 7-year-old son.

“I thought it would be something very nice to do and good for my son to see,” Hopkins said.

After several months of waiting, the day finally came. As Hopkins walked across the field, all that was on his mind was his son.

“I was thinking of my son,” Hopkins said. “Then I had some fun with it.”

51s take game three

After losing the first two games in the series against the Dodgers, the Las Vegas 51s’ bats came alive.

Las Vegas beat OKC 10-4 Monday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, as the Dodgers allowed the most runs scored at home this season. In the fifth inning, Zach Borenstein blasted a two-run homer to give the 51s a 9-3 lead. At that point, Las Vegas had already recorded 12 hits in the game. OKC came within two runs off back-to-back homers by Kyle Garlick and Alex Verdugo in the third inning, but Las Vegas responded with two runs of its own the following inning. Verdugo finished 3 for 4 with two doubles and a home run.

Pitching Change

Brock Stewart’s routine keeps changing.

Stewart was scheduled to start for OKC on Monday, but Los Angeles decided to push him back to Tuesday.

“It just comes from the big league team,” OKC manager Bill Haselman said. “They want Brock on a certain day and he’s going to pitch tomorrow (Tuesday).”

Justin DeFratus, who usually plays with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, replaced Stewart as the starting pitcher Monday.

Up next

The Dodgers finish their four-game home series against Las Vegas on Tuesday at 11:05 a.m. Stewart (1-0) will oppose Las Vegas scheduled starter Drew Gagnon (0-3).