Mejia to throw out first pitch for Eagles
Former Glens Falls pitcher, minor league coach to toss opening pitch
GLENS FALLS » Cesar Mejia helped pitch the 1988 Glens Falls Tigers to a regular-season Eastern League championship.
On Wednesday, 26 years later, he’ll take the mound at East Field once again to deliver the honorary fifirst pitch for the Glens Falls Golden Eagles’ 2014 opener in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.
After hanging up his spikes, Mejia became a minor league coach for the Phillies in his native Dominican Republic, and proudly wears a ring from their 2008 World Championship season.
“I feel very proud because most of the pitchers on the Phillies that year I had an opportunity to work with,” he said. “The most important thing is pitching mechanics, stay positive, believe in yourself and go hard after the hitter.”
Mejia’s strategies for success are found in his book, “The Art of Pitching,” which he’s following up with a second volume that he’s still working on.
Since retiring from coaching,
he also travels about promoting a new training device he developed called the MP Balancer that develops muscle memory and helps pitchers get in the habit of using good mechanics. “If you repeat things over and over it becomes automatic,” Mejia said.
The tool has the financial backing of future Hall of Fame hurler Pedro Martinez. Mejia made a special trip to meet with Martinez recently, in Cooperstown, where the former Red Sox ace was taking part in the Hall of Fame’s annual Legends Game.
“There’s so many times when you actually need to make a quality pitch,” Martinez said in a website video. “That’s when you really have to rely on your mechanics. This is perfect for you to make the perfect landing, to get the target you want to hit.”
Mejia had the best year of his pro career with the 1988 Tigers, going 14-5 with a sparkling 2.43 ERA. He even tossed a no-hitter.
“I pitched 25 games and didn’t miss any starts, and I only gave up more than three runs twice,” he said. “I remember, every time we want on the road, I was really proud when players on other teams asked if I was going to pitch in that city. They knew they’d probably go 0-for-3 or 0-for4.”
More than a half-dozen players from that team reached the major leagues such as Chris Hoiles, Kevin Ritz, Tory Lovullo, Doug Strange and Wayne Housie. The Golden Eagles’ roster includes pitcher Charles Lacko, the son of Rich Lacko, a pitcher on the 1988 Tigers.
Mejia made it to Triple-A with the Orioles and Mets, and spent 16 years coaching in the Phillies organization from 1996-2011.
Baseball has taken him many places, but it’s obvious that Glens Falls still holds a special place among his long list of fond memories.
“I really loved playing here,” he said.