MOOSIC, Pa. — The baseball President George W. Bush used for the ceremonial first pitch before the Washington Nationals' first ever game in 2005 - but that baseball is much older and has long roots in our area.
Moosic native Joe Grzenda last threw it in the final Washington Senators game in 1971.
Grzenda held on to it after retiring from the majors, and it stayed in a drawer in his house in Lackawanna County for decades until baseball returned to Washington D.C.
Joe Grzenda passed away in 2019, but his family still holds on to the famous ball and had it on display Sunday night at Colarusso's in Avoca.
"They couldn't believe that Joe kept the baseball all those years. He had it in an envelope in a drawer in the bedroom. And when they found out that he had the baseball that he last threw against the Yankees, they actually made the trip to our house," said Ruth Grzenda, Joe's wife.
The Grzendas cherish the baseball, and they say they plan to keep it in the family and keep its history alive.