Hightstown, NJ – After two stints in the minors, Heather Vitale will pitch in the big leagues for the first time on Sunday (May 31) when she heads to the mound for the Washington Nationals.
Ceremonial first pitch, that is.
Vitale, the popular multimedia journalist who has covered and promoted harness racing for more than three decades, twice has thrown out the first pitch at minor league games in recent years and now will get the major league experience at Nationals Park this weekend. Washington hosts San Diego, with game time set for 1:35 p.m. (EDT).
“I made it to The Show,” Vitale said, with a laugh. “It’s a little more pressure, but I have learned from experience that I’m not looking for heat, or anything like that. I just want it to get over the plate.”
Vitale – who has put in a little practice time in preparation for Sunday – said her two minor league appearances did not go exactly as hoped, with her first resulting in a pitch that failed to make it halfway to the plate (she was unnerved by a mascot standing nearby) and the second suffering from a hitch in her delivery.
She added, with another laugh, “I’m not sure who the catcher is going to be, but whoever is there, I’ll say a little prayer for them before I throw the ball.”
Vitale, whose love of baseball is surpassed only by her passion for harness racing, said the first-pitch opportunity was arranged by Ryan Davila, a real estate agent and Standardbred horse owner who lives in Washington, D.C.
“He’s my best friend and he knows I’m a baseball fanatic,” Vitale said. “He made it happen. He texted me and said, ‘Merry Christmas,’ even though we know Christmas is a long way off. I’m doing this on a Sunday afternoon, which is crazy; it’s not like it’s a Tuesday night. We’ll see how I do with the Nationals, and maybe I’ll try to somehow talk the (Baltimore) Orioles into it in the future.”
The Orioles are Vitale’s favorite team but were not her first favorite team. She initially became interested in baseball through her grandparents, Elmer and Helen Looney. Elmer Looney was a harness racing trainer but had pitched for a St. Louis Cardinals farm team before beginning his career with the horses, and Helen was a baseball fanatic.
“They were both huge influences in how I started to get interested in baseball,” Vitale said. “But it was through my aunt, Elise, who lives in San Francisco, that I really fell in love with it. She had season tickets at Candlestick (Park) and I would visit her. The San Francisco Giants were my first love in baseball. After that, I was hooked.”
Over the years, Vitale has visited 16 ballparks (including four that no longer exist, such as Candlestick Park). She ranks the Orioles’ current home, Camden Yards, and San Francisco’s Oracle Park as her favorites. This year, she added Seattle’s T-Mobile Park to her list.
“They talk about how great that ballpark is, and it was incredible,” Vitale said. “I love when parks have little special things, even if it’s just murals, different foods – the experience of going to a ballpark is magical. There are scientific studies about how going to a baseball game is a soothing experience – from the symmetry of the diamond, to looking at the green grass, to the rhythm of the game – and how all of that comes together. When I walk into a baseball stadium, especially Camden Yards, it’s my happy place.”
Vitale and her mother, Jo Ann Looney-King, have given some of the family’s homebred horses baseball-themed names, such as Slugger On Deck, Clean Up Hitter, Stealing Bases, Sweetest Swing, and Immaculate Inning. Vitale, her sister, Susan Looney, and mom also make it a point to enjoy a week of Spring Training each year.
“I would encourage people to go to Spring Training,” Vitale said. “It’s one of the most beautiful times of the year to watch baseball and it’s very intimate, which I love. You can get balls, you can get pictures with the players, and everybody is super relaxed because nothing counts yet.”
Of course, with harness racing’s season getting into full swing, time to visit ballparks becomes more limited. Vitale’s schedule now includes shooting a new season of PA Harness Week, which can be seen Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on NBC Sports Philadelphia and Sundays at 6:30 a.m. on NBCSN+ (with past episodes from 2008-2025 on YouTube), and she also is in her first year as the president of the U.S. Harness Writers Association.
In addition, she produces and hosts the year-round television show Post Time that airs on Delmarva Sports Net.
“We just started shooting PA Harness Week,” said Vitale, who was the U.S. Harness Writers Association’s Member of the Year in 2018, and a past Hervey Award winner (now Sam McKee Award) for excellence in broadcasting. “The season begins on Saturday (May 30), and we have another show added this year, so we will go through the end of August. I’m pretty psyched about that.”