Calgary Flames assistant GM Chris Snow throws out first pitch two years after ALS diagnosis

Chris Snow, the assistant general manager of the Calgary Flames, will throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park on Thursday when the Boston Red Sox play the Tampa Bay Rays.

While ceremonial first pitches have become routine in baseball – with celebrities and other athletes taking the mound – Snow’s experience will be different. He was diagnosed with ALS in June 2019 and was told he would only have one year to live. Snow is familiar with the aggressive form of Lou Gehrig’s disease; he lost his dad, his cousin and two uncles to ALS.

Now, more than two years since his own diagnosis and one day after his 40th birthday, Snow will return to a stadium he knows all too well, having grown up in the Boston area and worked as a beat reporter covering the Red Sox for the Boston Globe.

He’s also familiar with the sport, coaching his son, Cohen, in baseball. Moments like this have become a family affair, with Cohen – and daughter, Willa – joining his dad in throwing out a pitch Thursday. Cohen is ready for his five minutes of fame, but he also knows it could go terribly wrong.

“Most first pitches are fails,” he told the Calgary Sun. “So, I’m really hoping that doesn’t happen to me.”

All things Flames: Latest Calgary Flames news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Snow is prepared as well, joking that he’s aiming for the middle ground between George Bush at Yankee Stadium and Dr. Anthony Fauci at Nationals Park. He shared a video on social media of his practice leading up to the pitch.

The Flames executive has become an inspiration in the ALS community, showing that the degenerative disease won’t hold him back from the things he loves. As his wife, Kelsie, put it when her husband was first diagnosed, “Someone has to be the first person to live with ALS rather than die from it.”

Snow is still heavily involved with Flames’ operations, working in contract negotiations and data analysis. He and Kelsie have raised more than $500,000 for ALS research. He’s spent time biking to work, playing golf and kicking a field goal, showing that his disease won’t slow him.

His focus right now is throwing out as good of a first pitch as he can. Come October, he’ll start his 15th season working in the NHL and 11th with the Flames.

Contact Alyssa Hertel at ahertel@usatoday.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.