Article by Gino Ferretti for Pittsburgh Sporting News.
The ceremonial first pitch has lost its mustard.
An MLB tradition that began in 1910 as an honor for presidents and dignitaries, has evolved to include former athletes, celebrities and every day heroes.
Last week, one of today’s eminent hip hop artists was given the pleasure of showing off his 50 Cent arm.
The latest “HAHA-what-the-hell-was-that” moment occurred at Citi Field before Tuesday night’s Mets/Pirates match up. 50 Cent’s abhorrent hurl landed 20 feet off home plate to the stoicism of Mets fans, who coincidentally, have found a normalcy in witnessing bad pitching performances lately.
But the rapper is only the latest name on a notoriously BIG list of celebrities who’ve choked a pitch. Howard Stern Show producer Gary Dell’abate, singer (sort of) Justin Bieber, and athletes such as Washington Wizards point guard John Wall and Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis have all been recent participants in creating a history of pitching infamy.
While 50 Cent’s eerie toss has become just another footnote in that history, it does however speak volumes on the make-up of the current man.
Too many men, shamefully, don’t know how to throw a baseball.
I encourage all fathers, who haven’t seen videos of some of these “pitches,” to check them out. Because they’re exactly the moments of chagrin you want your sons to avoid. And only you can save them.
I would like to think that many fathers like myself will never allow their young sons to have any apprehension about being who they want to be. They may want to be presidents, athletes or rock stars. No matter the path, it’s our job to encourage them to achieve it. So, it’s not far fetched to think that one day our sons could be throwing out the first pitch of an MLB game. If a mother’s main job is to set a prototype for the woman their son will date, and eventually marry, then at the very least, it should be one of our main responsibilities to teach our sons how to throw a damn baseball.
It doesn’t require money. It doesn’t require a degree in mathematics just to help them with their calculus homework. It doesn’t even require full child custody. It only requires time. But you know what? It’s the one thing many men often pencil in to the bottom of their list of child responsibilities. Because there’s the XBox, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so many other distractions that interest kids more than any real world interaction these days. It leaves men thinking, “why should I bother?”
But you should bother.
Because a game of catch is the most elementary activity that will leave the greatest steadiness of admiration.
We’re not grooming our sons to possess a submarine slider like Kent Tekulve. We’re simply teaching them how to get the ball over the damn plate.
So, the next time your seven year old is watching one of his countless favorite YouTube videos on your iPad, take it from him and type in “Carl Lewis first pitch.” Let it play, and wait for his likely reaction.
“Dad, that guy throws like a girl.”
And that right there, is the perfect gateway to the backyard.
After his catastrophic outing, 50 Cent pitched an Instagram video to his critics with a caption that read, partly: “I’m a hustler, not a damn ballplayer.”
Perhaps the Mets should’ve had him ceremoniously run the bases instead.
Frank Frankline/AP Photo
