Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Draymond Green got some advice from Willie Mays before his first pitch at NLDS Game 4

On Monday night, the Giants dug deep to keep their season alive in NLDS Game 3 -- Derek Law brought the rally towel, Conor Gillaspiecame up big and Joe Panik eventually sent everybody home with a walk-off double.
But San Francisco knew that its work was far from over. It was just one win, after all, and the team still faced elimination heading into Game 4 on Tuesday night. Nothing could be left to chance. So, the Giants decided to enlist a reinforcement from across the Bay: Warriors forward/man who once lost to Mike Trout in H-O-R-S-E Draymond Green stopped by to throw out the first pitch.
But, being understandably inexperienced in the art of throwing a baseball, he needed to get some help first. So, he stopped by the clubhouse to see Hunter Pence:

And Brandon Crawford, who also gave him some technical advice:

But then, it was time to get serious. Draymond wanted to learn from the best -- and who could be better than the Say Hey Kid and Resident First Pitch Advisor himself, Willie Mays:

After showing him the proper grip, Mays imparted some last-minute advice: "Just flex. If you squeeze a basketball [too tightly] you can't get it up. You gotta finger-roll it."
Next, it was off to the cage to get some reps in:

And then out on the field to kick things off -- with help from some Bay Area royalty (and Lou Seal):

With all that help, there was no way he could fail -- although his location still needs a little work:

Alas, even the Bay Area karma wasn't enough. Thanks to a four-run rally in the ninth, the Cubs escaped with a 6-5 win and punched their ticket to the NLCS. They'll take on either the Dodgers or Nationals in Game 1 on Saturday on FOX/FS1.

BarberJordan
beephero
AP_702417634020
NYC