Spartan Baseball Sparks 2025 Season With 19th Annual First Pitch Dinner Sunday
2/2/2025 7:56:00 PM | Baseball
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Annual event drew another large, spirited crowd to honor Dr. Al and MaryKay Bolles as Alumni of Year, with Detroit Tigers greats Lance Parrish and Dan Petry as keynote speakers.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball hosted its 19th-annual First Pitch Dinner Sunday afternoon at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, filling the ballroom with nearly 500 spirited Spartans fans.
"This event is always a great day and it always signifies that we're really close to starting the season. To have close to 500 people here in support of our guys, I think is really overwhelming to be quite honest with you," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I think our guys, especially the young guys, understand better now, the importance of baseball in our community, and I think it's another one of those memory-making days that I know our guys will never forget."
This year's event featured Lance Parrish and Dan Petry, two members of the 1984 Detroit Tigers World Series Champions, as the keynote speakers, while honoring Dr. Al and Mary Kay Bolles as Alumni of the Year.
"Dr. Al and Mary Kay are two remarkable people; they are true friends of mine and my family, and tremendous supporters of our program," Boss said. "They're two of the classiest people that you're ever going to meet, and to have their support has been awesome. To get a chance to recognize them, I was just very proud to be able to do that, and, again, kind of show them off to people too, because they like to kind of fly under the radar. They don't like the spotlight, and I think that's just one more thing that is so impressive about them. We're really honored to be able to call them friends and have them part of our baseball family."
Sunday's event started with fans collecting autographs from the players on the 2025 season poster, baseball and other memorabilia, along with bidding on silent auction items. Then, the 2025 Spartan roster was introduced by the master of ceremonies, Jim Cotter, followed by an invocation from former Spartan pitcher Caleb Sleeman, before the meal was served.Â
After the meal, Boss addressed the crowd, introducing his staff, the Spartan parents, and the former Spartan baseball alumni in attendance, before introducing Dr. Al and Mary Kay Bolles, and presenting them with the Alumni of the Year Award.
"It's a great honor; it's just fabulous and humbling to be considered Alumni of the Year," Mary Kay Bolles said. "Michigan State has been a foundation for the success we've had in our life, and it was always a treasure to us, and to be honored like this is just icing on the cake. Â As we've watched Coach Boss through the years and as we've gotten to know him better and better, his integrity and his honesty and how he treats the students and athletes, and really builds both sides of their character. His integrity is outstanding, as well as his coaching, and it's been really fun to watch him and watch the team members grow."
Dr. Al and MaryKay Bolles are both proud Michigan State graduates, along with being leaders in the food and beverage industry worldwide, and long-standing loyal supporters of Spartan baseball.
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MSU baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. (center) presents Dr. Al (right) and MaryKay (left) Bolles with the 2025 MSU Baseball Alumni of the Year Award.
Following the Bolles' recognition, Parrish and Petry did a pair question and answer sessions, first with Cotter, then taking some questions from the audience.Â
"It was great to have them here, they're both two classy guys, and I've known Dan for a long time now, and I just got a chance to meet Lance a couple months ago when we talked about having them come up, and they've both been very gracious with their time," Boss said. "They're just very classy guys that are ambassadors of the game, and so to have them here meant a lot to us in our program as well."
Both Parrish and Petry retold many stories, including their favorite ones of teammate and Michigan State alum Kirk Gibson, along with playing together throughout their careers, playing against the late, great Rickey Henderson, playing for Sparky Anderson, and many other stories. Petry's stories included Michigan State centralized memories of his son, Jeff, who played ice hockey for the Spartans and daughter-in-law, Julie, who played field hockey at MSU.
One of the members in the audience was MSU senior infielder Sam Busch, a native of East Lansing, who has attended many First Pitch Dinners growing up, but this was his final one as a Spartan baseball player.
"I've been coming to these since I was a little kid, so it is a little sad knowing it is my last one. But, it's exciting too, know that we're coming up pretty quickly on the season. So all the guys that fired up, I'm fired up to get going here," Busch said. "It was super cool to have Dan Petry and Lance Parrish here today and to hear their stories. These guys are Detroit Tigers legends. So it was interesting and meaningful to hear from the and the questions that Mr. Cotter had for them was cool and it was really fun. It was powerful hearing from Dr. Al and MaryKay Bolles, they're very successful people and had some great words and a very inspirational message for us."
Following the festivities, Parrish and Hall of Fame sportswriter Tom Gage, who worked for The Detroit News as the Detroit Tigers beat writer from 1979 to 2015, sold and autographed their book, "The Enchanted Season," about the 1984 World Series run. They also autographed other memorabilia and took photos with fans.
"We have some great fans here at Michigan State, and I always appreciate that, I appreciated that when I was playing, and appreciated that when I used to go to my kids functions, and it's great to see that the parents and everybody in the community are still supporting their team," Parrish said. "This is great turnout, and a great deal and just a great event."
Michigan State baseball opens the 2025 season Friday-Sunday, Feb. 14-16 in Cary, North Carolina, at Coleman Field at the USA Baseball complex. MSU starts off the season and the weekend by playing Western Michigan on Friday, Feb. 14 at 4 p.m. ET. The Spartans then play a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 15 against Monmouth, starting at 12 p.m. Michigan State then wraps up its opening-weekend action by playing Dayton on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 10 a.m.
The Spartans' schedule is subject to change, fans can visit msuspartans.com for complete schedule information and updates, as well as ways to follow the action.
Michigan State's home opener at newly renamed Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium is on March 12, taking on in-state rival Michigan in a non-conference match-up.
For the second year in a row, Michigan State baseball and softball fans have the ability to purchase season tickets.
Season tickets packages went on sale on Sunday at the First Pitch Dinner, and are now on sale through the Spartan Ticket Office. The MSU baseball season ticket package, which includes 22 home games at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium, is available for $50. The Spartan softball ticket package is $25 for 15 home games at Secchia Stadium.Â
All ticket levels for seniors, adults and children are the same price. Admission remains free for all Michigan State students by showing their MSU ID at the entry gate.
Both Spartan baseball and softball create exciting game atmosphere and environments at Old College Field and this inaugural opportunity allows fans to experience that atmosphere first hand and up-close.
For complete season ticket information and ways to purchase their tickets, fans can visit msuspartans.com, or visit the MSU Ticket Office, located in 1855 Place.
