LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University baseball team will hold its 12th annual First Pitch Dinner on Saturday, January 25, 2020 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm in the Cavalla Room of the Bart Luedeke Center on campus.
 
This year's special guest speaker is former MLB player, coach and executive Rubèn Amaro Jr.
 
The cost of the event is 100$ per person and 75$ for young alumni (2015-19). There are sponsorship opportunities available as well. A table sponsorship is 750$ and a player sponsor is 100$. Online registration is available at the following link. In the interim, you can mail-in checks and fill out information through the following document.
 
"We are very excited to have Rubèn Amaro Jr. as our keynote speaker," Rider Head Coach Barry Davis said. "His experience in baseball at the highest levels puts him in a class few can compare. Having been a major league player, coach and general manager, as well as an integral member of the 1987 DI National Championship team at Stanford, Rubèn has attained what few have. We are grateful and honored that he has decided to spend a few hours to kick off our 2020 season."
 
Amaro played eight seasons in the MLB, seeing action for the California Angels, Philadelphia Phillies and the Cleveland Indians. In his career, he hit .235 with an on-base percentage of .310.
 
Amaro appeared in 485 MLB games, batting .235 with 16 home runs and 100 RBIs. He played for both the 1993 NL champion Phillies and the 1995 AL champion Indians. He saw action in one game for the Indians during the 1995 World Series.
 
Amaro joined the Phillies front office immediately after his playing career ended in 1998, hired by then-GM Ed Wade. He served as Assistant General Manager for the Phillies for 10 seasons, before being named General Manager.
 
On November 1, 2008, the day after the Phillies' second-ever Broad Street Parade, it was confirmed that Amaro was given a three-year contract to be the new Phillies GM, as well as Senior Vice President.
 
The Phillies won the National League East divisional title each of the first three years of Amaro's tenure, appearing in the 2009 World Series and finishing with the best record in baseball during the 2010 and 2011 regular seasons (the latter, with 102 wins, their best record in franchise history).
 
He served as the GM of the Phillies until after the 2015 season. Amaro was then hired as first base coach by the Boston Red Sox for the 2016 season, returning to the field for the first time since retiring as a player. Following the 2017 season, he was named the Mets' first base coach under new manager Mickey Callaway. Following the 2018 season, the Mets promoted Amaro from the coaching ranks into a front-office advisory role, under new GM Brodie Van Wagenen.

In 2008, Amaro was one of three people inducted into the All-American Amateur Baseball Association Hall of Fame. In 2009, Amaro was inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. That same year, baseball fans nationwide voted him the MLB "This Year in Baseball Awards" 2009 Executive of the Year. Also in 2009, the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association (PSWA) named him its Executive of the Year.
 
Amaro is co-founder of the Richie Ashburn Harry Kalas Foundation, which provides baseball camps for underprivileged children in the Delaware Valley. He also serves on the local YMCA board in Philadelphia.