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The Coolest Baseball First Pitch You've Ever Seen (Using A Hockey Stick)
Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher warms up for the first pitch by using a hockey stick to shoot the baseball, prior to the Tampa Bay Rays' game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, Sept 21, 2012, in St. Petersburg, Fla.Credit: AP

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

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.

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)

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