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Stephen A. Smith was roasted by social media users, his ESPN colleagues, and celebrities after he threw the first pitch at Yankee Stadium on Thursday (September 21).
Wearing a Derek Jeter jersey, Smith stepped up to the mound Thursday to throw the ceremonial first pitch before the Yankees game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Smith's ball didn't quite make it to home plate, bouncing on the ground before being saved by Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka.
His ESPN colleagues were quick to make jokes about the first pitch.
"WAS THAT A BOUNCE PASS??????" First Take's Molly Qerim tweeted.
"You have got to be freaking kidding me @stephenasmith. This is worse than I imagined and you make fun of me for running out the end zone!" ESPN commentator and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky wrote.
After throwing the pitch, Smith acknowledged his blunder in the broadcast booth at the game.
"I was disgusted with myself, man. Let me tell you something, I was warming up down there, I was throwing strikes from 60 feet away. And I got on that mound, and it looked like it was a mile away. I said, 'What the hell am I doing here?' There's no excuse. It was a choke job. I should do better than that. Stephen A. choked a little bit. I just did. It was straight, but damn it, I can do better than that," he said.
On Friday (September 22), the First Take host revealed on-air that Jay-Z sent him a disappointing text after the pitch.
"I just got a text from Jay-Z, he just texted me an article: 'Stephen A. says he's disgusted by his first pitch' and then just put sad pathetic faces attached to it," Smith said. "That's supposed to be my boy."
Even Snoop Dogg joined in on mocking Smith, saying in a recorded video "you ought to be ashamed of yourself for that pitch. There's not one athletic bone in your body."
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