Tom Willis’ mission for the last 15 years has finally been completed as he threw out the first pitch at Angel Stadium – using his feet! Born without arms, Tom uses his feet to do everything and now he can say he’s officially thrown out the first pitch at all 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) parks. His journey was celebrated in a segment on KABC-TV.
The national tour was part of his “Pitch for Awareness” effort in which Tom spread awareness about the capabilities of people with disabilities. It all started in 2008 when he threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals vs San Diego Padres baseball game.
Having been working towards this accomplishment for many years, Tom was overcome with emotion after reaching his goal. “I just pulled off 30 stadiums in 15 years. “I traveled over 80,000 miles and I spent a lot of my savings account on this,” Tom said. “But very fortunately I’ve got an amazing wife who supported me and put up with this and said if it’s something I need to do then we will definitely do it together.” Tom and his wife have been married for nearly 40 years.
He is not the only people with a disability to complete this milestone, as Hailey Dawson also ended her journey to 30 at Angel Stadium with the help of United Airlines.