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Conor McGregor Delivers an All-Time Bad First Pitch at Wrigley Field

McGregor joins luminaries before him like 50 Cent and Carly Rae Jepsen in the conversation for worst first pitches in baseball history.

Nick Selbe

Conor McGregor Delivers an All-Time Bad First Pitch at Wrigley Field
Conor McGregor Delivers an All-Time Bad First Pitch at Wrigley Field /

Former MMA champion Conor McGregor has tried his hand in boxing in recent years, but it's safe to say he won't be taking his talents to the baseball diamond anytime soon.

McGregor toed the rubber at Wrigley Field on Tuesday before the Cubs-Twins game to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. It could have gone better.

It looked like the southpaw McGregor tried to run a glove-side cutter but overcooked it just a tad. In the pantheon of horrific first pitches, the "Notorious MMA" joins an impressive list of contemporaries.

Grammy-nominated pop star Carly Rae Jepsen did the honors at a Rays game in 2013, but didn't quite make it to first place. Maybe if the team called her back to try it again now, she'd have more success.

Five-time All-Star and former No. 1 pick John Wall threw the first pitch at a Nationals game in 2011. He also didn't fare too well, though he was saved some embarrassment of beaning a group of onlookers behind home plate with a nice dive pick by relief pitcher Drew Storen.

And finally, there's arguably the greatest of all time: Curtis James Jackson III, the artist known as 50 Cent. The Grammy Award winner looked great in his personalized Mets uniform and had a strong wind-up at Citi Field but sailed his toss comfortably wide of his target.

These aren't the conclusive worst of all time, but they certainly are in the discussion. Where does McGregor's entry rank in the storied annals of bad first pitches? You decide.

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Nick Selbe
NICK SELBE

Nick Selbe is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about baseball and college sports. Before joining SI in March 2020 as a breaking/trending news writer, he worked for MLB Advanced Media, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. Selbe received a bachelor's in communication from the University of Southern California.

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