Sports media personality Stephen A. Smith Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Stephen A. Smith throws 'preposterous' first pitch at Yankee Stadium

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated 9/21/23

ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith is known for yelling words like "preposterous" or "embarrassing" during his day job on television. Well, either adjective would have done nicely in describing Smith's attempt at throwing out the first pitch ahead of Thursday's matchup between the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.

To the delight of many, Smith made an utter fool of himself. Aside from poor form, his first mistake was throwing from the mound, which caused his surprisingly on-target pitch to come up woefully short of the plate.

Just a bit short, @stephenasmith!

Watch and Stream #YANKSonYES LIVE: https://t.co/aRu5PF6iD2 pic.twitter.com/JVMWJg3VFd
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) September 21, 2023

To make matters worse for Smith, he talked a big game beforehand, telling his colleagues on ESPN's "First Take" that he was having trouble choosing which pitch to throw, deciding between a curveball, slider or fastball.

In the long history of having non-baseball players throw out the first pitch, Smith's attempt wasn't that bad. After all, to be considered among the worst, Smith would've had to top hip-hop artist 50 Cent, the undisputed champion of horrible first pitches.

7 years ago today, 50 Cent threw out the first pitch pic.twitter.com/n3ndZgI7Kg
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 27, 2021

Nevertheless, baseball fans had to find some enjoyment from Smith's subpar effort. Not only is Smith already a divisive sports pundit with a history of rubbing some the wrong way, but he also took a swing at the sport recently. On Wednesday's "Stephen A. Smith Show," he admitted to not watching much baseball before basically calling it boring, using ratings as his reasoning.

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