London, UK –

When the London Underground and Buckingham Palace made the joint announcement that the Queen would be on hand to coronate the new Underground ballpark it was a shock to an entire nation and to many around the world. The event, thankfully, went off without a hitch and with great fanfare. What no one at that time knew was negotiations had wrapped up that very same morning to have the Queen herself not only attend the Underground opener against the Charleston Statesmen but to throw out the ceremonial first pitch in Pearson Metropolitan Park to not only give a true baseball opening to the park but to the 2034 PEBA season in London.

Negotiations was not even really the right word. It was Buckingham Palace that had approached the Underground front office with the initial idea and from there it was just a week of meetings in which the Underground staff bent over backwards to ensure all of the needs and wants of the Queen and her royal company were met. This largely entailed ensuring safe and private facilities for the Queen and minimizing opportunities for her frailties and mental deficiencies to be noticeable – easy enough in most ways except for the first pitch itself. The two sides went back and forth on ideas to have the Queen offer up a first pitch without having to do a variety of things such as walk, stand, or even throw. At one point it was suggested that fishing line be strung from the Queen’s private box down to the field in which a ball could be attached, allowing the Queen to effectively release a ball down the world’s first baseball zip line. This idea was the favorite for some time and was serious enough that a staffer was sent to procure 200 feet of fishing line and a tiny hook for the ball.

When presented with this idea the Queen furrowed her brow (indiscernible to commoners given the state of her skin and facial muscles but easily spotted by her attendants) and, with much difficulty, made it clear she wished to be on the field with a ball in hand. Many sideways glances were shared and those standing shifted uncomfortably in their stances. At that moment the American General Manager of the Underground stood quickly, arms outstretched in dramatic fashion, and declared it would be the most momentous occasion in British baseball history. An initially tepid applause grew into a fully formed fervor within the room as the intoxication of the idea rather than the reality swept over them all. Even the Queen smiled. Kind of.

And so it came to be that 15 minutes before game time the Queen of England was announced to give the first pitch. The stunned crowd of 44,567 erupted in jubilant cheers and clapping, the roar of which could be heard for several blocks. Unable to walk and unwilling to lower herself to anything but her typical motorcade vehicle, the Queen arrived on the field sitting in the back of her Bentley State Limousine. To her credit, the Queen seemed a touch more alive in this moment, able to raise a hand to wave to the crowd from the window. The car pulled up in front of the mound and the Queen slowly emerged from the vehicle with the help of several members of her retinue. General Manager Winters handed her a ball, at which point the crowd erupted anew as they posed for a variety of pictures together and with some of the players including a special photo of the Queen with the two Englanders on the team, Graham Ainsley and George Farleigh.

Unwilling to accept any physical assistance and unable to throw a ball overhanded, the first pitch was something of a softball pitch meets a bowling throw, with the ball weakly trundling about half the way to the awaiting Jaime Villanueva who quickly scampered to grab the ball. Despite this the crowd, of course, was ecstatic and the moment was widely viewed as an incredible and frankly unbelievable success. The Queen was assisted into her Bentley and departed the field and the game was on.

Though we are not here really to discuss the game, it is worth mentioning that the Underground were victorious in their opening act at Pearson Metropolitan. Duane Moss pitched 8 innings of stellar 3 hit, 1 run ball and the London bats came alive with home runs from Lorenzo Gonzalez and Raul Padilla as well as a run scoring triple from Ed Black. The Underground won 7-1.

The Queen never appeared in the box that had been specially prepared for her, to some chagrin in the London upper ranks. Her apparent departure from the stadium was made without any notification to the Underground and a few small recognition moments planned for during the game were quickly scrapped and replaced with more standard baseball fare. The ball used for the first pitch was quickly sealed in a small glass enclosure and put on display in the English Baseball Museum housed within the stadium.