A photographer at Fenway Park was on the wrong end of a first pitch gone awry
Before the Red Sox delivered a wild 5-4 walk-off win over the Cardinals on Wednesday night at Fenway Park, the club honored the 1967 "Impossible Dream" team that made it to Game 7 of the World Series with an on-field ceremony.
Team photo time! 📸#KCancer: https://t.co/4R8jksYBwD pic.twitter.com/LEx1hpZ7v0
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 16, 2017
As part of the pregame events, a pediatric cancer survivor named Jordan Leandre took the mound to throw a ceremonial first pitch on behalf of the Jimmy Fund and its Radio-Telethon this week. Catching the pitch would be Mike Andrews, Red Sox icon and member of that '67 team.
Former Jimmy Fund Clinic patient Jordan throws the first pitch to @redsox great Mike Andrews! ⚾️ #KCANCER pic.twitter.com/XlXB16QaI5
— The Jimmy Fund (@TheJimmyFund) August 16, 2017
Only ... Leandre's pitch didn't quite go according to plan. He missed his target with a pitch that sailed juuuuust a bit outside (to quote the great Bob Uecker), though it did hit a different target:
A sports writer named Chris Mason pointed out that the "catcher" that wound up receiving that pitch was his camera man, Tony Capobianco. Fortunately for everybody watching and wincing at home, Capobianco would give a social media thumbs-up message later in the evening:
THANK THE LAWD it was just a bit outside https://t.co/FLnQffF2Kr
— Tony Capobianco (@TonyCapobianco) August 16, 2017
As for Leandre, the man responsible for this entire situation, well ... he has a strong and heartwarming history with the Red Sox:
He had a fun reaction to Wednesday night's events, too:
Yikes...
— J.R. Leandre (@realJRLeandre) August 16, 2017
To make matters worse, I'm a pitcher 🤦🏻♂️
— J.R. Leandre (@realJRLeandre) August 16, 2017
All's well that ends well, though, so it's great for all parties that this wound up inspiring some laughs.
Feel free to caption this, America pic.twitter.com/ZUXdacFAXV
— Tony Capobianco (@TonyCapobianco) August 17, 2017
