Blast off! Astronaut Victor Glover Jr. launches first pitch to Mike Trout

ANAHEIM -- Despite a highly decorated career as a U.S. Navy captain, test pilot and NASA astronaut that saw him serve as the pilot of the Artemis II mission in April, Victor Glover Jr. admitted he was nervous to throw out the first pitch before Friday’s game between the Angels and Rays.

Glover, who grew up locally in Pomona and attended Ontario High School, was on hand to take part in Aerospace Night at Angel Stadium. And while he said he had some nerves before throwing to superstar Mike Trout, he said it was a good thing and that his career has been bolstered by not being afraid of that feeling.

“There's all kinds of things in the world that make you nervous,” Glover said. “I'm a fighter pilot, I've flown in combat, but it's not because I have nerves of steel. It's because I've actually had nerves about so many things, I just know how to handle it. Things make me nervous, and I still do the thing, though. That's actually a gift.”

Glover, 50, comes from an athletic background, as he played football and baseball, wrestled and did track and field in high school before wrestling and playing football at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he earned a degree in engineering in 1999. He later earned master’s degrees from Air University and Naval Postgraduate School and has accumulated 3,000 flight hours in more than 40 aircraft.

He said sports played a critical role in his development, along with his education and time in the Navy. He also pointed to studies which show that physical activity is good for the brain.

“I give as much credit to [athletics] as studying engineering and flying jets in the Navy,” Glover said. “All of those things came together to help me learn and acquire the skills of astronautdom. But the big thing about sports is that whether you win or lose on Monday, you're in the gym, you're on the track, you're on the diamond and you're putting in the work. That’s an amazing life skill to build over time.”

Glover, who has spent 176 days, eight hours and one minute in space, said he’s had to make some sacrifices due to his career choice -- for example, it’s been difficult to follow an entire baseball season. But he’s an avid fan of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders and enjoys watching the Olympics. His most recent assignment was being the pilot of the Artemis II mission, which launched on April 1 and flew around the moon on April 6 before landing in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on April 10.

“I love sports,” Glover said. “I'm a fan of human greatness. I love to watch people with gifts share their gifts. Even just watching batting practice, there's some gifts that were amazing. Like, even dude tossing the ball, everybody out there was gifted and it's amazing to just see that. My life has been a lot of sacrifice, and one of the things I've sacrificed is watching a season of anything. But I hope to get back to being able to enjoy sports more.”

Glover remains an active astronaut but currently isn’t assignable to a mission until Sept. 1. He could be assigned to go to space yet again, but said one of the most important things he’s learned from his time with NASA is to cherish the planet and other people.

“I don't want to create an elitist perspective of going to space,” Glover said. “It is amazing, only 700 or so people in history have gone. But what I want you to take away from this is that it taught me more clearly than anything how awesome this place is. Earth is great and earthlings are great, and we should take care of it and take care of each other.”