Death Toll Revised Down to 24 After Monstrous Oklahoma Tornado…100+ Injured…Children Among the Dead…Stunning Pictures…Woman Finds Dog During Interview!

WATCH on TheBlaze TV: Latest Updates on Tornado Aftermath, Including Updates From Glenn Beck in Oklahoma

Sports

The Coolest Baseball First Pitch You’ve Ever Seen (Using A Hockey Stick)

Sep. 22, 2012 3:06pm Mike Opelka

The National Hockey League is currently in the middle of a labor disagreement that is threatening the 2012-2012 season, but the player lockout and cancellation of preseason games does not seem to be having much effect on the skills of Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Guy Boucher.

The best first pitch in baseball by a hockey player

Photo credit: AP

Last night in Tampa, before the Rays beat up the Toronto Blue Jays 12-1, Boucher took to the mound to deliver the ceremonial first pitch. Unlike most celebs and dignitaries chosen for this honor, the respected NHL coach used a hockey stick to delivery the baseball from the pitching rubber. And he did not disappoint the crowd: Boucher’s wrist shot looked like a winner. In fact, the announcers agreed, calling the shot, “a perfect strike.”

Fans who arrived early to the game also captured a few of Boucher’s warm up shots, and they looked as solid as the shot he took when the pressure was on.

The first pitch can be a tricky thing. In 2009, President Barack Obama tossed a very respectable first pitch before the All-Star Game in St. Louis.

Former President George W. Bush also represented the White House well when he threw out this first pitch before the first game of the 2001 World Series not long after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Of course, no discussion of ceremonial first pitches would be complete without a review of some of the worst pre-game pitches thrown by dignitaries. Please 10 ten of the “most forgettable first pitches ever,” as ranked by the Bleacher Report:

(h/t Yahoo Sports)

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (42)

izukiddin
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 11:26am
Barry throws like a girl.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
OniKaze
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 11:25am
Cool,

I liked it, but why did you have to ruin a “feel good” story with mentioning of the Great Mutt Satan that is Fuhrer Obummer?

I was hoping for a story that wouldn’t give me a headache or make me nauseous, but instead, now I have to spend the next hour or two eating Tylenol…

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
blair152
Posted on September 23, 2012 at 9:49pm
Nice shot!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
C.S.Patriot
Posted on September 23, 2012 at 9:15pm
All this talk about Obama sure ruins the greatness of two sports that get tarnished so often by the bureacracy involved already.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Lgbpop
Posted on September 23, 2012 at 8:55pm
There’s NOTHING respectable about a guy wearing mom jeans throwing a baseball like a girl.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Kafir-Islamsux
Posted on September 23, 2012 at 8:55pm
odumbo is more ***** than the entire line up of the Rockettes…

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
mcmeador
Posted on September 23, 2012 at 12:25pm
Not as cool as the title says…

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Mr.Fitnah
Posted on September 23, 2012 at 8:53am
Great memory and picture to hang on the wall.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- TheCenturion
  Posted on September 23, 2012 at 9:23am
  Not as good as the memory of Rush explaining that some people are not athletes, they’re athletic supporters.– like B.O.
  
  Report this comment
Kenszen
Posted on September 23, 2012 at 8:02am
“President Barack Obama tossed a very respectable first pitch…”

Are you kidding me? And then his girlie pitch is in the 10 Worst Opening Pitches video. Blaze??? (I know, you’re just trying to be nice.)

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
LIBERTARIAN T38
Posted on September 23, 2012 at 2:09am
Hockey and baseball? Hmmm…maybe if there was checking in baseball it would be exciting…I think the problem I have with baseball is the players make so much money for so little actual work…maybe get a blister on my little finger, maybe get a blister on my thumb…money for nothin’ checks for free. Sorry people, I’m an ex-baseball fan since that strike years ago…

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- C.S.Patriot
  Posted on September 23, 2012 at 8:57pm
  That was funny
  
  Report this comment
Atomic
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 10:12pm
Ha, ha! barack hussein obama ahmedinejad throws like a girl!!! And was there a flood in St. Louie that day? What’s with the high-waters?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Ishmot2
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 8:59pm
Baseball is the only sport you can play while taking a nap.Bush kicks Obamas ass.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- ehbardin
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 11:33pm
  @ ISHMOT2
  
  As Jay Leno has stated, fishing is like sleeping with a stick in your hand.
  
  Report this comment
subic
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 7:54pm
I hate soccer, such a g a y ass sport. I wish those commies over at Disney/ESPN would stop trying to shove it down our throat.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
samtree
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 7:07pm
It would be fun to see if a catcher could catch a pro golfer “pitch” using his driver to hit a line drive.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
AquaBuddha
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 6:17pm
Larry Sinclair say’s Obama is more of a catcher…

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Watchyer6
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 6:12pm
I hope I never see Obama wearing a White Sox jacket again. He’s a complete phony. In an interview there at the All-Star game, the interviewer asked him who his favorite White Sox players were.
He couldn’t come up with even one name! He hemmed and hawed for a minute, and then blurted out “Well, I like the Cubs, too.” Are you kidding me? No Sox fan would ever say that. Obama is as bogus as the day is long.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- mpoconnor7
  Posted on September 23, 2012 at 9:42am
  Then Barry referred to Kaminsky Park…but he’s the smartest person in history, even smarter than Steven Hawking and Mr. Spock.
  
  One awful first pitch that they missed was John F Kerry, who, incidentally, served in Vietnam. My cat could throw a better pitch than that.
  
  Report this comment
bdandsl
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 5:53pm
Obama wears mom jeans and throws and runs like a girl! Sorry, girls, no insult intended.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
1froglegs
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 5:42pm
Obama throws like a girl. I do not understand why he would agree to throw out a first pitch at a baseball game. He must know that he throws like a girl. His narcissism must make him believe that that is how you are supposed to throw.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
RaydocX
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 4:51pm
My dad and son had seats to the All Star Game when BHO threw out the first pitch… Nosebleed ort of seats in deep left field… Secret service insisted dad throw out his victorinox executive knife with American flag scales… A single 2″ blade a risk from stands more than 400′ away? In my eyes, it was our presidential detail that struck out that night.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- 000degrees
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 5:35pm
  The mom jeans still crack me up…..
  
  Report this comment
- randy
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 7:57pm
  Mom Jeans and he throws like a girl!
  
  Report this comment
4xeverything
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 4:20pm
Fun to watch…now I must go watch the Reds clinch it for Cincy!

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- 4xeverything
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 7:17pm
  WOO HOO…and this on belongs to the Reds! 6-0 over the Dodgers to clinch the NL. Man, I miss Marty and Joe right now!
  
  Report this comment
- shephound
  Posted on September 23, 2012 at 7:57am
  they clinched the NL CENTRAL, not the NL pennant. They’ll have to beat 2 other teams in the postseason before they can claim the NL crown.
  
  Report this comment
avgconservative
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 4:18pm
I have 3 letters which represent Baseball… Zzz

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- J_Ind_Boston
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 4:59pm
  You mean Zzzz
  
  Report this comment
- Tired of Code Names
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 9:38pm
  @zzz. Baseball is incredibly exciting with every pitch. Those of us who actually got off the couch and did something other than watch t.v. and play video games are well aware of it. Golf as well. I was at one time a mid level handicapper. Sure wouldn’t want to have to tee off down a tunnel of folks who expect me to hit it straight and not shank one into the crowd. Appreciation for a game comes by experiencing the difficulties of execution not only physically, but mentally. Baseball requires really super athletes to up their mental attitude 162 times a year. Ever tried to hit a 95 mile per hour fast ball with the thought that the pitch might be a 70 mile per hour curve ball? I have. Professional hitters are very hard to find because most of us can’t even come close to doing that. Not to mention defense in baseball.
  
  Report this comment
JACKTHETOAD
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 3:59pm
Baseball meets hockey with a jai-alai twist. Nice.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- biohazard23
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 5:34pm
  Yep, my 2 favorite teams. :) Jai-lai, eh, not so much.
  
  Report this comment
G.E.R
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 3:39pm
The only thing that’s worse than baseball and all the other pro sports are the fans.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- JACKTHETOAD
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 3:57pm
  Hey buddy. How much was that one worth? I’d like to see Nolan Ryan take a hockey stick to you. Off court, of course.
  
  Report this comment
- G.E.R
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 4:19pm
  @JACKTHETURD
  
  Thanks for proving my point
  
  Report this comment
- cykonas
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 4:35pm
  Lighten up boyos, both of you. It’s all in good fun. Peace.
  
  Report this comment
- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 6:01pm
  That makes sense coming from you. It’s only considered America’s past time, ie, baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet. Just like most Progressives, you hate everything American. Let me guess, you LOVE soccer?
  
  Report this comment
- shephound
  Posted on September 23, 2012 at 7:58am
  Baseball is the greatest thing ever. Period.
  
  Report this comment
The-Monk
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 3:20pm
Shades of Happy Gilmore. : )

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Z
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 3:17pm
Sweet

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.