Judging Nick Willis’ First Pitch Attempt for the Detroit Tigers
Nick Willis is a bonafide athletic hero in New Zealand, what with two Olympic medals and a trio of Commonwealth Games ones (including a gold in 2006) buried in a safety deposit box someplace. Presumably. Or maybe they’re in a shoebox under his bed, who knows? The point is that he’s won them.
But the thing about Olympic heroes is that you don’t see them on the telly every weekend like the All Blacks or them other team sport icons. So in between those big Games, they tend to disappear from the thoughts of the non-fanatics. Especially when you’re a dude like Nick Willis who is based in America with his family – Ann Arbor, Michigan to be precise.
Willis keeps himself busy though. Training, yeah sure. But also keeping an eye on the local baseball team like a good Michigan resident does. Willis has been in the state since attending the University of Michigan and married a native so the Detroit Tigers probably loom large on the periphery of his life and as it happens the Tigers have been scooping up local Olympians to throw out ceremonial first pitches this week. Guess who got the call?
Ka-ching. And after some coaching from the legends at Baseball NZ and probably a few nerves overcome – as well as meeting Miggy Cabrera, woohoo – Willis was on the plate and getting business done just like he did in the 1500m final in Rio.
A little weak on the follow through, didn’t really step into it and the throw faded away from the plate. Still, it got there to third baseman Casey McGehee on the full. He’s no John Holdzkom but as far as celebrity first pitches go, that ain’t too bad. The Tigers twitter account gave it the ol’ okeydokey.
To be honest, it was a whole lot better than Danny Lee’s effort for the Toronto Blue Jays in March before a Spring Training game. Arguably better form for Danny Boy though bloody hell the accuracy was wild. Normally the catchers are the best friend here, using their sly umpire-baiting skills of framing to scoop the throws out of the dirt in a way that makes them look better than they were. But Danny Lee didn’t even give his dude a chance, firing it way over his head. Son, you’re on the pitching mound not the fairway.
Ah, yet how does this compare to other luminaries who’ve been called upon to throw a cheeky baseball for promotional purposes? Well, that’s an impossible question to answer without going through thousands of famous faces with average arms but we can always take a breezy look. The two other Olympians to throw for the Tigers this week were double gold medallist boxer Claressa Shields and Canadian football bronze medallist Shelina Zadorsky – Shields being a local and Zadorsky, like Willis, having been educated there.
Shields first, you can tell she’s a boxer because this pitch had some heat behind it. Not much of a wind up but a quick release and solid placement. She’d be outstanding throwing those pick offs to first.
Zadorsky meanwhile, you can tell that she plays a sport that doesn’t involve hands. Like our lad Nicko, she dragged it across the plate and hers even dropped into the dirt.
Continuing on the recent Olympic theme we cannot ignore Laurie Hernandez, a member of that insane USA Gym team in Rio. She had a turn before a recent Mets game. The throw itself was kinda terrible and from a closer distance too but you can excuse that given she’d just done a FLIPPIN’ FLIP before it! Bonus points for creativity, although by now all the rest of the USA Gym team have tried this move. Simone Biles did it back in July.
For imagination’s sake, gotta say that’s better than Nick Willis, although he ranks solidly amongst 2016 Olympians to have thrown one. Willis’ pitch was decent. He threw it from atop the mound as well, not in front of it - there’s a champion right there not cutting any corners. However if we were to open up the comparisons a little wider it gets tricky. Like, how is he supposed to compete with a dude such as John McEnroe? This here is as good as it gets:
Maybe a musician is a better comparison?
Yeah… except 50 Cent threw clunker with a new album to promote. He secretly tanked that sucker for publicity, you heard it here first. Take a look at youtube compos of worst first pitches and most of them are actors, musicians or politicians. As a sportsman, Nicko edges a fair chunk of those muppets. His competition belongs among athletes.
Obviously most first pitches are thrown by Americans. Nick Willis is a runner from New Zealand, there’s no point comparing him to people that grew up in a baseball culture. Of course Rob Gronkowski can throw a strike over the plate. Katie Ledecky too. But… what about cricket players? Willis himself has said he only ever played backyard cricket, though he played a fair bit of it by his accounts. Any cricketers thrown a first pitch?
Ah Christ, better balance that ledger out.
Much better. You know what though? A couple of Blackcaps have actually performed this fabled task before. Back in 2010 the NZ cricket team played a T20 series against Sri Lanka in Florida, America. It’s well known that a few of the fellas in the kiwi cricket team also follow baseball quite closely and Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram were given the opportunity to each throw one out before a Marlins game. This is from a New York Times article from that week:
“Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, and Jacob Oram, also of New Zealand, threw out ceremonial first pitches at a Major League Baseball game between the Florida Marlins and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. They also trained with the Marlins’ leading All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez to express amazement that cricketers field barehanded.”
As Danny says, throwing to the mascot they didn’t really get to cut loose. You can assume that being a catch and throw kinda sport, these guys would have the measure of a runner like Nick Willis. All in all it seems a commendable effort though. Nice work, lad.
Throwing out the first pitch at an MLB game is usually a fairly cheap publicity stunt, a way to get people into their seats nice and early – as well as a way to consolidate the team’s brand. Bring in local success stories to parade before the fans reminds those fans how proud they are of where they come from and maybe that leads them to keep coming back to see their favourite baseball team. Plus they’re gimmicky so if you’re lucky you’ll get a viral tweet/vid out of it.
For celebrities it’s either something fun to do for an afternoon or it’s a way to humanise themselves by showing that they enjoy playing ball like the rest of us. Yay. Which is why pretty much every president for the last 50+ years has tried it at some stage, some more poignantly than others – like when George W. Bush threw one out at a Yankees game only weeks after 9-11. ESPN’s 30 for 30 did short about it.
Regardless of personal politics, that’s a powerful moment… and then there’s this dumb son of a bitch:
Interestingly, video of that 2006 effort at a Red Sox game (of course) is ridiculously hard to find. In the old days presidents (which The Donald is not) used to throw them out from their private box in the stands. You won’t be shocked to learn that Ronald Reagan was the first to go out onto the mound and toss a fastball. You might be shocked to learn that Barack Obama, Chicago White Sox fan, threw a poor one into the dirt himself. Come on Barry, Nick Willis threw a better one than that!
Too right, mate.