Stephen A. Smith might want baseball fans to turn their volume down, but that didn’t stop the ESPN personality from going to a ballpark this week. Specifically, Yankee Stadium, as Smith threw out the first pitch at Thursday night’s Yankees game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Wearing a Yankees jersey, Smith went straight to the mound for the first pitch. Although most first-pitch throwers opt to go about halfway, the outspoken Worldwide Leader personality opted to challenge himself. Of course, the one issue when you challenge yourself on first pitches is the fear of not making it. You 100 percent don’t want to be known for making an errant pitch. Just ask 50 Cent or Anthony Fauci how that went for them. Or former President Barack Obama.
Smith looked down and then dealt his pitch… and bounced it, to his dismay.
Here it is… Stephen A. Smith throws out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium: pic.twitter.com/EuWlyND5RL
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 21, 2023
In fairness to Smith, his one-bounce wasn’t as bad as others have been. The degree of difficulty from the mound is no joke. So, while Stephen A. hung his head in shame after seeing the ball bounce, this was one of the better offerings.
Do not expect, however, many to give him that much grace. Smith drew the ire of baseball fans this week after some interesting comments made about Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani. Also, you will likely see this bounce be replayed on First Take Friday morning. The crew will probably spend time roasting him while almost certainly continuing to feel it from fans and otherwise.

About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022
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