Nancy Pelosi’s ceremonial first pitch at Tuesday’s Washington Nationals game may not have been the worst first pitch of all time, but it was far from a Nolan Ryan fastball.
The former House Speaker threw the pitch a few steps in front of the mound to Screech, the Nationals’ bald eagle mascot, who was positioned in front of home plate.
The lob throw from Pelosi, a Democratic congresswoman from California, still forced Screech to move quickly forward in order to make the catch.
Pelosi was on hand on Tuesday as part of the Nationals’ “Night OUT” LGBTQ+ celebration.
She was selected for “her long-standing commitment to fighting for the rights and dignities of the LGBTQ+ community,” the Nationals said in a release.
Washington was hosting the Diamondbacks in the first of a three-game set at Nationals Park.
The Nationals lost the game to Arizona after they let a 4-1 lead slip away, with the Diamondbacks taking sole possession of the NL West with the win.
The congresswoman is a San Francisco Giants fan but sported a Nationals jersey with her name on the back.
“I’ll always be a @SFGiants fan, but tonight my pitch was to celebrate the vibrancy of our LGBTQ+ communities with @TeamDCSports and @Nationals,” Pelosi tweeted.
Pelosi can take some solace that her pitch was nowhere near as bad as some others that have occurred at major league ballparks.
Dr. Anthony Fauci famously had one of the worst first pitches in recent memory on July 23, 2020, when the Nationals hosted the New York Yankees.
Fauci completely missed Sean Doolittle, who had to run after the ball behind him.
Then there was rapper 50 Cent’s throw at Citi Field in 2014 that missed the mark by such a wide margin, it nearly struck several camera people that were capturing the moment.
NBA star John Wall also had a first-pitch gaffe at Nationals Park in 2011, when his throw bounced and forced Drew Storen to dive to snag it.