Yankees Great Paul O'Neill's Game 4 First Pitch Was So Bad He Demanded a Do-Over

Former New York Yankees star Paul O'Neill throws the ceremonial first pitch before World Series Game 4 at Yankee Stadium.
Former New York Yankees star Paul O'Neill throws the ceremonial first pitch before World Series Game 4 at Yankee Stadium. / Luke Hales/Getty Images

New York Yankees great Paul O'Neill was in the Bronx on Tuesday night to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 4 of the World Series.

With former Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett serving as his catcher, O'Neill tried to make sure he didn't short hop the pitch from the mound. It seems he put a little too much muscle on his throw, as it went sailing way over the head of Burnett and into the backstop.

The crowd couldn't mask its surprise over O'Neill's errant throw, and clearly the 61-year-old wasn't pleased with his performance, either.

Before leaving the mound, O'Neill could be seen gesturing to Burnett to throw the ball back to him, and proceeded to throw another ceremonial first pitch. This one had more velocity behind it and a lot less arc, and it bounced just before reaching Burnett's mitt.

While fans won't be forgetting the first pitch that sailed past Burnett, O'Neill wasn't going to let himself go out like that, promptly demanding the do-over in order to provide a better pitch.


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Karl Rasmussen
KARL RASMUSSEN

Karl Rasmussen is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News team for Sports Illustrated. A University of Oregon alum who joined SI in February 2023, his work has appeared on 12up and ClutchPoints. Rasmussen is a loyal Tottenham, Jets, Yankees and Ducks fan.