Our owner Steve Hammond played professional baseball for 11 years starting with getting drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 6th round out of Long Beach State University. He worked his way up to AAA with the Brewers before being traded to the SF Giants, where he played in their organization in AAA from 2008 until 2010, including being teammates with Buster Posey.

After his time with the Giants, he played oversees for 5 years - 2 years in Taiwan and 3 years in Japan where he played for the Orix Buffaloes and in the minor leagues with the Ishikawa M-Stars.

This summer, Steve and his family went back to Japan for the first time since playing there in 2015 and they were invited to VIP treatment at an Orix Buffaloes game in Osaka, and also to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the M-Stars game in Kanazawa.

Yes, it was a strike! And no, he didn’t throw his arm out trying to fire it in there 90mph 😆

Check out the video on our Instagram page here