Man will toss out the first pitch in his brother's _ and the nation's _ honor.(The Orange County Register)

Publication: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service

Publication Date: 29-MAR-02

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COPYRIGHT 2002 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service

ANAHEIM, Calif. _ The Angels fan on the mound throwing out the first pitch at the season opener Sunday night has a story. Not so much a story about baseball, but the story of his brother, the games they saw and the game they never got to see.

Six months ago, Brad and Charles "Chic" Burlingame III were supposed to meet at Edison International Field for a night of baseball in the town where they grew up in the 1960s,ran through the orange groves, raced bicycles down Lincoln Ave. and rooted for the only team they ever cared about.

But their baseball reunion didn't happen because September 11 did. That morning Chic, 51, of Herndon, Va., went to work as pilot of the Los Angeles-bound American Airlines Flight 77 that was hijacked by terrorists and slammed into the Pentagon.

"He was supposed to fly in, and we were supposed to go the game and see our team," said Brad, 49, recently, his memories interrupted by tears. The Sept. 12 game was to be...

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