The city of San Francisco is going to hurting from this one for a while. 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel and linebacker Fred Warner did their darnedest to execute a rare dual first pitch movement for the Giants’ home opener against the Padres.
What ensued from that good-faith effort rivals 50 Cent in the annals of First Pitch Hall of Infamy.
Unless I’m forgetting some other ceremonial toss, Fitty had the dubious honor of worst first pitch king until now. The combined throwing talents of Deebo and Warner are enough to make every 49ers fan genuflect before a self-made shrine of so-called game manager Brock Purdy every morning.
At least Deebo’s pitch got somewhat airborne. His attempt is obscured somewhat, since it’s a bit of a wonky setup to have two football players trying to deliver a strike without the aid of throwing directly over home plate. Harder to determine just how far outside Deebo chucked it.
When it comes to Fred Warner, well, you might never see a worse pitch than that.
Adding to the hilarity of this debacle is the fact that “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC is blaring in the background. This badass anthem is pumping through Oracle Park. Everyone’s hyped. The stage is set for what should be an epic climax of sick first pitches by supreme athletes, only for Warner to absolutely dirt that ball.
Check that. You can’t even say it was “in the dirt” really. Warner threw a ground ball. It hit about three feet in front of him. He bounced it over the dirt of the batters box. If I saw this in person, I’d be crying with laughter.
Come on, man! I understand that Warner is an All-Pro linebacker and could probably care less about putting any time in to hurl a baseball. Still, were I in his shoes, it’d be nice to be met with such a warm reception after a loss in the Super Bowl and reward the thousands of Giants fans in attendance with a far better first pitch.
Then again, had Warner put in the time, we wouldn’t have gotten instant comedy gold. Maybe that was his low-key/high-key plan all along.
In case you’ve never beheld 50 Cent’s wayward ball on the Mets’ bump, please enjoy. You be the judge if what Warner did was worse.
