Habs forward played baseball until he was 14 and was a left-handed pitcher in high school.
Cole Caufield got to experience something pretty cool on Saturday afternoon.
The Canadiens forward threw out the first pitch before a Major League Baseball Game between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field in Milwaukee. Caufield grew up in Stevens Point, Wisc., which is about 250 kilometres from Milwaukee. Caufield attended the game with his parents, Paul and Kelly. The Cubs beat the Brewers 5-3.
Caufield played hockey, football and baseball while growing up in Wisconsin. He played baseball until he was 14 — his freshman year in high school — and was a left-handed pitcher.
“I think it’s huge,” he said. “It gets your mind away from hockey and you get to meet new friends. You find other ways to be a part of a team. Most people have a hard time learning to play for a team and not themselves. I think if there’s any way you can jell together with different guys in different environments that’s pretty special.”
Caufield also played football as both a quarterback and running back on offence from Grade 3-6. He also played defence. As a quarterback, the 5-foot-8 Caufield joked on the podcast he couldn’t see over the offensive line, so he ran the ball, adding he was the fastest guy. But he likes playing defence more.
“I didn’t really pass the ball much,” Caufield said on the podcast. “I was always running, sneaking.
“I can (throw),” he added. “It’s just nobody could catch at that age, so you just focused on running.”