ESPN's Buster Olney To Headline Baseball's 4th Annual First Pitch Dinner
Kirk Downs I Lipscomb Athletics |
As the 2018 baseball season draws near, the Lipscomb Bisons and 12th-year skipper Jeff Forehand are excited to announce the 4th Annual Lipscomb Baseball First Pitch Dinner, which will be held Saturday, January 27 inside Allen Arena. Headlining the event as the featured speaker will be ESPN Senior Writer and baseball savant, Buster Olney.
The doors will open at 5 p.m. for a meet and greet with the Bisons, followed by a dinner and live auction at 6. Auction items included are vacation packages, an MLB experience and other unique opportunities.
While no purchase of tickets are required for the dinner, guests are encouraged to make donations to the program. VIP tables are available for $1,000.
Annual proceeds from the Bullpen Club are used to directly support Lipscomb student-athletes, coaches and staff. Donations help with upgrades to Ken Dugan Field at Marsh Stadium, purchase additional training equipment, supplement the travel budget and acquire additional items that allow the coaches and players to reach their highest potential.
A native of Washington, D.C., Olney is no stranger to Nashville and even Lipscomb. After graduating high school in Massachusetts, Olney moved to the Music City and enrolled at Vanderbilt University where he majored in history.
An avid baseball fan growing up, Olney developed a liking for the Los Angeles Dodgers after reading a book about Sandy Koufax when he was eight, which he later attributed for helping begin his career in journalism.
After graduating from Vanderbilt, Olney began covering baseball in 1989 as the Nashville Banner’s beat reporter for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. He later covered the San Diego Padres for the San Diego Union-Tribune (1993 - 1994) and the Baltimore Orioles (Baltimore Sun, 1995 - 1996). He arrived at ESPN after six years at the New York Times covering the Mets (1997) and the Yankees (1998 - 2001).
While in Nashville, Olney formed a strong relationship with the legendary Don Meyer, who was head coach of the men’s basketball team at David Lipscomb University at the time. Years later, after Meyer was in a horrific car crash in South Dakota, Olney wrote a book How Lucky You Can Be: The Story of Coach Don Meyer.
Olney has also authored the Times’ bestseller, The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty: The Game, the Team, and the Cost of Greatness, a book about the Paul O’Neill/Tino Martinez Yankees’ dynasty of 1996 - 2001.
Olney is currently a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine and reporter for ESPN’s exclusive Sunday Night Baseball telecasts. He joined ESPN in 2003 to cover baseball for all ESPN entities, including ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, and SportsCenter. He writes a daily column for ESPN.com and hosts the popular Baseball Tonight podcast as well as appearing on ESPN’s baseball studio show by the same name.
For those unable to attend the dinner, but are interested in making a gift to the program, you can make a donation online HERE.
For more information regarding the event, please contact Lipscomb baseball Director of Operations Brian Ryman at 615-966-5868 or by email: Brian.Ryman [at] Lipscomb.edu.
The Bisons open the 2018 season at Dugan Field on Feb. 16 with a three-game set against UNC Ashville. Friday's first pitch is set for 4 p.m.