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Stephen A. Smith throws horrible first pitch at Yankee Stadium, gets booed

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•09/21/23•

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Stephen A. Smith
© Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK

Throughout Thursday’s edition of First Take on ESPN, Stephen A Smith’s first pitch at the Yankees game was the biggest talking point. That moment came Thursday night as they prepared to take on the Toronto Blue Jays — and it didn’t go very well.

Smith’s pitch made it to the catcher on a bounce. That showing earned him a smattering of boos after he hyped up his performance on the show Thursday morning.

It also proves the people were correct. According to a poll released during the show, the majority of viewers didn’t expect Smith’s first pitch to go well.

Even the moments before he took the mound, Smith posted a video about the nerves he was feeling following some warm-up pitches. But he heard from some Yankees royalty ahead of the big moment and he said he wanted to see video once Smith was done.

It’s safe to say he’ll enjoy that footage.

“I’m a little nervous,” Smith said. “I mean, I’m warming up, and I got it. I got a few pitches. But all it takes is one mistake — one mistake — and that could mess up everything. So I’m a little worried about it. But my man Derek Jeter gave me inspiration. He told me don’t F this up. Don’t F this up, and he wanted to see the video as soon as I’m finished.

“Okay … pray for me.”

Stephen A Smith talked a big game about his first pitch on ‘First Take’

Smith showed off his, well, interesting form during First Take on Thursday and even threw a pitch to Dan Orlovsky in the final minutes of the show. He said his goal was to throw a better pitch than former president Barack Obama, and that probably wasn’t the case.

When sports betting analyst Joe Fortenbaugh made his regular appearance on the show, he said some people at ESPN Radio had a wager going. They were betting whether Smith would make it over the plate without a bounce, and he got Molly Qerim to give Smith a vote of confidence.

“I’m gonna say yes,” she said.

Smith then called out Fortenbaugh for the bet and made a bold declaration.

“You’re sleeping on me, man. You’re sleeping on me, my brother,” Smith said. “… I’m gonna throw it right down the pipe.”

As for how Fortenbaugh was betting, he didn’t think the pitch would go well — but for a different reason than it ended up being.

“He’s gonna airmail it,” Fortenbaugh said. “It’s going to be a complete disaster and you guys are going to lead with it tomorrow morning.”

Considering he got booed and the pitch bounced, it’s safe to say First Take viewers will be in for a treat Friday morning.