While Brian Taylor, the mayor of Grand Forks, has thrown out the ceremonial first pitch for the past few Grand Forks International (GFI) baseball tournaments, the honour went to someone else in 2012.
Richard Weinberger, 2012 Summer Olympic bronze medal winning swimmer in the 10K open water marathon, threw the pitch and while he excels in long-distance swimming, he said he was content to let the GFI pitchers do the hurling from the mound.
"I'm a swimmer," laughed Weinberger. "I'll leave it to the GFI guys but (throwing the opening pitch) was fun. I'm used to throwing rocks down at the lake."
As for what's next, the medal winner says he has his sights set on the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"I'm definitely going to Rio and I want the gold," he said.