This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
First Pitch
May
20
2010
I have seen a number of ceremonial first pitches this last week. Between the Biggest Loser homecoming show and the American Idol homecoming show, there were a few clips of the contestants throwing the ceremonial first pitches at the closest big-league stadia.
I have a couple of things I wonder about the ceremonial first pitch, in general.
The first is this: why is this ceremony limited to baseball? If I were to be some temporary ceremonial celebrity, I would want to perform the ceremonial first kick-off at a football game. Or even the ceremonial first puck-drop at a hockey game. But baseball?
Some of you may have noticed that I forgot to say that I would want to perform the ceremonial first basketball toss-up thingy. I didn’t forget – I don’t care much for basketball or baseball. I think I would rather be invited to a baseball game than a basketball game because at least baseball is outside and there are things to do other than watch the game.
The second is this: why does no one ever try to throw out the runner at first? If I were invited to throw the ceremonial first pitch, I would pull aside the first baseman and warn him to be ready. And I would have him tell the ump to prepare to call an out. Then, instead of throwing the first pitch to the catcher, I would instead throw it to first base.
In case you’re wondering why I would try to throw out a runner when there’s no one on first base: why throw out a first pitch when there’s no batter?
a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.
Hebrews 8:2
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 11:17 pm and has been carefully placed in the Sports category.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:53 am
I’d like to throw the ceremonial first belly-buck at a Sumo Wrestling match!
May 21st, 2010 at 12:09 pm
There are ceremonial puck drops at certain hockey games; they’re just less common than first pitches. Why? Who knows. Maybe because hockey organizations tend to save ceremonial puck drops for real honorees (like long-retired hockey greats), instead of letting any C-list celebrity or 15-minutes-of-fame phenom drop by and get another few seconds in the spotlight.
May 21st, 2010 at 10:32 pm
I think I realized why baseball has it – there’s no clock. Baseball can take time for meaningless ceremonies because time doesn’t matter in baseball.
Oh, and I remembered today that a basketball game starts with a tip-off. I don’t know why I couldn’t think of that yesterday (or bother looking it up either).
May 22nd, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Also something to consider: first pitches don’t require special consideration, whereas puck drops require carpet on the ice so the honoree doesn’t slip and fall.