The rural letter carrier from Dubuque who was injured in this month’s mailbox bombing nightmare will be honored at a Quad City River Bandits baseball game Thursday night (7 P-M). Ken Dolphin is a lifelong baseball fan and says it’ll be a thrill to toss out the first pitch in Davenport’s historic John O’Donnell Stadium, at a game where all postal service employees are getting in free. Dolphin has returned to work on “limited duty” and hopes to return to his rural route full-time in another month. He’ll says be taking it easy when he throws the baseball from the mound. The right arm that was injured in the bombing is the one he pitches with and it’s still stiff and sore. Dolphin, who’s in his 50s, says that arm and his nerve-damaged hearing are still recovering since May 3rd, the day he was hit by shrapnel from one of 18 pipebombs allegedly placed in mailboxes in five states by Luke Helder. Helder, a 21-year-old from Minnesota, is being held in Cedar Rapids, awaiting trial. Dolphin says “I went though all the emotions over this individual…anger, why did this happen to me, but you have to understand, I can’t continue that way. I can’t carry anger with me indefinitely and I’ve…moved on. I’ve forgiven the man. Don’t [make a]mistake, I feel he should be punished but on the other hand I have my life to live and that’s how I’m going to proceed.” As for the ceremonial baseball pitch, Dolphin says it’ll be an honor to represent all postal workers at Thursday’s game. The River Bandits are the single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
