Watch: 50 Cent's first pitch at Citi Field goes astray — very, very astray
Rapper 50 Cent (left) shakes hands with Mets' OF Curtis Granderson before throwing an abysmal first pitch. (AP)
There's nothing like a bit of unintentional comedy to divert attention away from organizational disarray. On Tuesday night at Citi Field, prior to the Mets-Pirates game, rapper 50 Cent uncorked one of the worst ceremonial first pitches ever seen.
Here it is in all its "glory" :
[mlbvideo id="33211751" width="600" height="336" /]
On hand to promote an upcoming concert at the ballpark, 50 Cent's wild pitch not only didn't reach the catcher or pass through any part of the strike zone, it never even shared the same zip code with the left-handed batter's box. As Major League's Harry Doyle (played by Frick Award-winning broadcaster and ex-major leaguer Bob Uecker) would say — and as Mets announcer Gary Cohen echoed in the above clip — "Juuuuuust a bit outside!"
So far outside in fact, that the errant toss recalls that of former Cincinnati mayor Mark Mallory, who let loose this doozy before a Reds game at Great American Ballpark in 2007:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqNri9u4uqU]
Elsewhere in the annals of first pitch fiascos, Stacey Gotsulias of the Yankees blog It's All About the Money, Stupid, nominated a trio of doozies, the best/worst of which belonged to pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen, whose toss barely made it off the mound:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgwAywJlo1M]
My own nominee to ad to the worst first pitch collection goes to 10-time Olympic medalist Carl Lewis, who prior to a 2003 Mariners game made it clear that his athletic prowess did not extend to the diamond: