Kevin James Created His Viral Daytona 500 Moment at the Mets Game

James did the yelling. Again.
Aug 20, 2024; New York City, New York, USA;  Comedian and actor Kevin James throws out the first pitch prior to the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 20, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Comedian and actor Kevin James throws out the first pitch prior to the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
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I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is a movie that probably wouldn't make it out of the idea stage now but back in 2007 it was a big deal. Partly because one of the movie's stars, Kevin James, got serious about its promotion. One has to remember that he was red-hot off the success off the now-underrated Hitch. Those travels took him to the Daytona 500, where he unleashed an iconic plea for all gentlemen within earshot to start their engines—something that has survived 17 years of other intenet stuff trying to squeeze it out of the collective consciousness.

And now that memory is back in a big way thanks to James getting the honor of throwing out the first pitch at the New York Mets game on Tuesday night, hot on the heels of the Hawk Tuah girl doing the same thing. James channeled the intensity of a Travel Ball parent addicted to monitoring Gamechanger and treating an 8 a.m. group play contest like Game 7 of the World Series by shouting things about America and baseball and the troops. A combination that always gets a hearty applause.

Now, some of our younger readers may be curious about James and what he's brought to the table throughout the years. For them, let's recommend a little show called King of Queens. It really holds up. Plus the aforementioned Hitch. Would this country accept a Hitch 2? Absolutely. But it will only happen if James does more 2007 stuff into cameras and microphones.


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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.