Royals’ Mike Moustakas honored to meet 97-year-old veteran and POW survivor in first-pitch ceremony

Mike Moustakas looked at his World Series ring and heard the roars of the crowd.

Then there were more chills.

Moustakas served as catcher for the ceremonial first pitch before the Royals played the Mets on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium. The pitcher was retired Marine Corps Sgt. Benedict Lohman Sr., a 97-year-old World War II veteran from Lansing, Kan., who survived three years in a Japanese POW camp.

“Coming from the ring ceremony, I was already on a pretty emotional high,” Moustakas said. “And I didn’t think there was anything that could trump that.

“Being able to shake his hand, a real true hero, that definitely trumped it.”

Lohman, born in 1918, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1940 and was sent to China. His regiment was sent to the Philippines one week before the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. In May 1942, Japanese forces broke through three Marine lines, and Lohman was taken prisoner. He was sent to Osaka, Japan, where he grew rice and worked on oil tankers, using 30-pound rivet hammers, before he was liberated when the war ended.

Moustakas said it was a special moment just listening to the public-address announcer tell Lohman’s story. Then it was time for the pitch.

Lohman went out to the pitcher’s mound in a wheelchair, but Moustakas said Lohman kept asking, “Should I stand up now?”

“I was like, ‘It’s up to you,’ ” he said. “ ‘If you want to get up, we’ll get you up.’ ”

Lohman rose from the chair with assistance, and the crowd cheered.

“The first time he stood up it was pretty awesome,” Moustakas said.

After Lohman was helped back into his chair, Moustakas ran out to meet him at the mound and collect the pitch. It was Lohman’s first trip to Kauffman Stadium.

The two shared a conversation for a moment. Moustakas said he thanked Lohman “for everything that you’ve done” and heard “some funny stuff” but wouldn’t elaborate.

The game wasn’t so memorable. Moustakas went 0 for 4 with a fielder’s choice and was stranded at third with the bases loaded in the sixth inning of the Royals’ 2-0 loss. But his moment with Lohman was certainly worth remembering.

“I was just blessed to be a part of that, a small little piece of that,” Moustakas said, “to be able to meet that man and say thank you for everything he’s done for us.”

Pregame ceremonies

The Kansas City Symphony performed the National Anthem, in addition to during the ring ceremony, and a B-2 bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster, Mo., flew over the stadium at the conclusion of the anthem.

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 8:31 PM with the headline "Royals’ Mike Moustakas honored to meet 97-year-old veteran and POW survivor in first-pitch ceremony."