Major League Baseball today announced the ceremonial & off-field activities for Games One and Two of the 2018 World Series presented by YouTube TV. The 114th Fall Classic between the American League Champion Boston Red Sox and the National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers begins tonight, Tuesday, October 23rd, at Fenway Park with LIVE coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes and ESPN Radio. 
RED SOX LEGENDS THROWING FIRST PITCHES: 
The ceremonial first pitches of the first two games of the Fall Classic will be thrown by a group of Red Sox Legends, some of whom also had a hand in the same ceremonies in previous World Series in Boston.  
Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, who hit .352 in 14 World Series games (1967 & 1975), will once again throw the ceremonial first pitch of a World Series Game One hosted at Fenway Park. Yastrzemski threw out the first pitch of Game One of the 2004, 2007 and 2013 World Series. The Red Sox have won each of those games. 
In another repeat performance from the 2013 World Series, members of the 2004 World Series Champion Red Sox will throw the ceremonial first pitch of Game Two. 
NATIONAL ANTHEM PERFORMANCES: 
Multiple Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and Red Sox fan James Taylor will perform the National Anthem prior to the start of Game One. As a recording and touring artist, Taylor has touched people with his warm baritone voice and distinctive style of guitar-playing for more than 40 years. Over the course of his celebrated songwriting and performing career, Taylor has sold more than 100 million albums, earning gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards for classics ranging from Sweet Baby James in 1970 to October Road in 2002. In 2015, Taylor released Before This World, his first new studio album in thirteen years, which earned him his first ever #1 album. The album features the song "Angels of Fenway," which James wrote as a tribute to his favorite team and the enduring power of baseball. 
He has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2012, Taylor was awarded the distinguished Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government and the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony. In November 2015, Taylor was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. In December 2016 Taylor received the Kennedy Center Honors, which are presented annually to individuals who have enriched American culture by distinguished achievement in the performing arts. This month, Taylor announced the "James Taylor Million Meals Challenge," an initiative to aid New Bern, NC, and the surrounding 22 counties who have been affected by the devastation of Hurricane Florence with The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. The program is doubling donations through October 31st.
Michelle Brooks Thompson, who is a regular performer at Fenway Park, will sing "God Bless America" after the top of the 7th inning during Game One. 
The National Anthem for Game Two will be performed by Boston Pops, with vocalists from the Tanglewood Chorus and the Boston Symphony Children's Chorus, under the direction of Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart. 
SPECIAL GUESTS FOR GAMES ONE & TWO: 
Major League Baseball has invited service members through the PALS for Patriots program to a first-class experience at Game One, including attending Batting Practice, meeting Commissioner Rob Manfred, Major League players and MLB Network talent. The PALS for Patriots program, in partnership with Patient AirLift Services, provides morale-boosting trips to Major League Baseball games. Launched in 2013, Major League Baseball annually donates tickets, lodging and meals for wounded veterans to attend baseball games through the program. Patient AirLift Services arranges volunteer pilots to fly the veterans from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and other military hospitals, to the games in several major league cities each year. Information about the Game One guests, who will be joined by a companion and the volunteer pilot, are below:
Isaac Francois
A retired Fleet Marine Force Hospital Corpsman Second Class, Isaac joined the Navy in April 2004 as a Hospital Corpsman, and has served with the Marines in Okinawa, Japan, Camp Lejeune, NC, and Afghanistan. Isaac was medically retired in December 2013 after the Navy found him unable to perform his duties due to injuries sustained in Afghanistan and throughout his Naval career (Bilateral Compartment Syndrome of lower extremities, PTSD). Since Isaac's separation from the Navy, he has been very involved with adaptive sports, and has participated in two Warrior Games, as well as the 2014 Invictus Games in London. Isaac has an adventurous soul and likes to think of himself as the guy who tries everything at least once, so he has competed in cycling, track and field, swimming, rock climbing, shooting and archery. When he's not working, he enjoys spending time with family, cycling, building pinewood derby cars, and learning to play the guitar.
 
Sharod Wade
A native Washingtonian, Sharod enlisted in the US Marine Corps to serve active duty in 2003. Upon completing recruit training aboard Parris Island, SC. Sharod was stationed on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC serving as Food Service and Operations Specialist. From 2005-2006, Sharod deployed with 2nd Marine Logistics Group conducting counterinsurgency operations with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). Upon being medically retired, Sharod returned home to Washington, DC to pursue a new career as an entrepreneur. In 2016, Sharod completed the Dog Tag Fellowship program, and earned a Professional Business Administration Certificate from Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies. Sharod and his wife Brittany (a veteran of the US Air Force), launched a facilities maintenance company "Semper Sanitize." Sharod remains a proud resident of Washington, DC, where he lives with Brittany and their five children (4 girls and 1 boy). 
Tevon Mitchell
A native of Annapolis (MD), Tevon enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 2001. He completed recruit training aboard Parris Island, SC and was then stationed on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC serving as Food Service and Operations Specialist. From 2002-2007, Tevon deployed with 2nd Marine Logistics Group conducting counterinsurgency operations with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). Upon being wounded in combat and honorably discharged, Tevon became interested in the medical field. He returned home to Annapolis where he began pursuit of a career in the nursing industry. Tevon and his wife Tara have seven children (5 girls and 2 boys).
Jesse Quist, 15, a now 10th grader from Cheyenne, Wyo., will be recognized alongside Sharon Robinson prior to Game Two for being a grand prize winners of the 2018 Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life essay contest. Jesse was one of two grand prize winners, selected out of thousands of essays written from around the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. In his essay, Jesse describes the amount of determination and persistence he has demonstrated in his life after being born without fully functioning hands or arms. The essay contest is the central component of the Breaking Barriers educational program, led by Major League Baseball, Scholastic, and Sharon Robinson. Breaking Barriers is designed to educate students in grades four through nine about the values demonstrated by Jackie Robinson as he broke baseball's color barrier in 1947, and how to apply them to their own lives. Jesse's winning essay available by request.
GAME TWO COMMUNITY EVENT -- VISITING BOSTON'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Prior to Game Two, representatives from Major League Baseball and the Boston Red Sox will visit young patients at Boston Children's Hospital, the #1 ranked pediatric hospital in the nation (according to U.S. News & World Report's 2018-19 Best Children's Hospitals Honor Roll). As part of the visit, the group will donate a "Play Space," a unit containing game consoles, including Virtual Reality, TVs and MLB video games. As an extension of UMPS Care Charities, umpires assigned to the World Series will be on-hand to help the kids create and customize their own Build-A-Bears. Commissioner Manfred and representatives from the Red Sox also will be on-hand and will be joined by the family of Roberto Clemente. 
ROBERTO CLEMENTE AWARD WINNER ANNOUNCED PRIOR TO GAME TWO: The 2018 Roberto Clemente Award will be announced in a press conference and recognized on-field prior to the start of Game Two. The Roberto Clemente Award is the annual recognition of a Major League player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field. The annual Award pays tribute to Roberto Clemente's achievements and character by recognizing current players who truly understand the value of helping others.  
The concept of honoring Major League players for their philanthropic work was created in 1971 as the "Commissioner's Award." It was renamed the "Roberto Clemente Award" in 1973 in honor of the Hall of Famer and 15-time All-Star who died in a plane crash on New Year's Eve 1972 while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. 
GAME BALL DELIVERY: Members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston will deliver the game ball of Games One and Two to the mound. Stavaughn Harris, 13, a student at Peter Noyes Middle School will deliver the game ball for Game One with Hall of Famer and Red Sox Legend Jim Rice. His favorite player is ALCS MVP Jackie Bradley, Jr. Jajuan Julian, 18, is a senior at Edward M. Kennedy High School and will deliver the game ball for Game Two with former Red Sox All-Star second baseman and current NESN analyst Jerry Remy. His favorite player is Mookie Betts.