Pesce brings dad to Citi Field, throws 1st pitch with Lee, Fox

Brett Pesce had a special catcher for his ceremonial first pitch at Citi Field on Saturday.

Pesce, a native of nearby Westchester, NY, brought his dad to the ballpark to catch his first pitch before the New York Mets game over the weekend. Pesce’s dad, Brian, is a lifelong Mets fan, so it seemed like a no-brainer to invite him to participate in the special event.

“Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for myself, and more importantly my father,” Pesce said. “He’s a die-hard Mets fan so the fact that he got to catch that for me, it was cool.”

Pesce signed with the New Jersey Devils in free agency this summer to give him a bit of a homecoming, and it’s a homecoming he’s already taking advantage of.

“I grew up going to Shea Stadium, Yankee Stadium, you name it,” Pesce said. “I loved baseball as a kid so it’s definitely surreal.”

Joining Pesce at Citi Field to throw out the first pitches were New York Islanders captain Anders Lee and New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox.

Pesce and Fox threw their pitches right down the middle, while Lee’s had a little too much heat and skipped to the backstop.

Lee threw to his college friend David Lowe and warned him beforehand that he was planning to go fastball all the way.

“I told him I was bringing the heat,” Lee said. “He told me he hasn’t caught a ball in 20-plus years. He was having a good pregame, so I said I’m not letting up.

“It was an awesome experience,” Lee added. “Was fun to be able to be out there and throw the ball around again. First pitch in that game was pretty cool.”

Lee brought his wife and daughters out to the ballpark to experience the festivities and the game.

“It’s our last few weeks of the offseason here and we get to spend some time with the family,” Lee said. “Bring them to a game, see another sporting event. … Just a nice family afternoon.”

The players started the day with a jersey swap with some of the Mets. Lee got a Brandon Nimmo jersey, Pesce got a David Peterson jersey and Fox got a Harrison Bader jersey.

The jerseys got some immediate use. After the game, Bader (who hit a home run in the Mets 4-0 victory) was wearing the jersey he got from Fox.

After the jersey swap, the guys borrowed some gloves to toss the ball around and get some of the rust off. Both Lee and Pesce said it had been a while since they got some good throws in.

“I don’t think you would’ve seen it based on our execution today, but back in the day I used to throw it around a little bit,” Lee said. “I played softball all summer so I was chucking it around. Definitely got the groove back on that. But then you pick up a baseball after all that softball and it’s so much smaller.”

“My buddy came over the other day and brought me a baseball because I was a little nervous," Pesce said. "We were just messing around, then me and [Lee] had a soft toss beforehand.”

Their warm-up came just before an hour-long rain delay, but eventually the guys made their way out to the mound in front of the Citi Field crowd to get the game underway and cap off the special moment for Pesce and his dad.

“It’s a 10 out of 10. There’s no place like New York,” Pesce said. “We got some boos, and I loved it. It’s hard to put into words how special it is to be home."