On May 27, 2014—an unseasonably warm Tuesday evening in Flushing, Queens—some 20,000 fans filed into Citi Field for the second game of a three-game series between the New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates. What they witnessed was, in so many ways, a deeply forgettable early-season outing: a nearly four-hour 4-2 Mets victory. “The only thing I remember about that game,” says David Wright, at the time the Mets’ third baseman and team captain, “is the first pitch.”
Right—that. Around 7 pm, 50 Cent strolled to the mound to throw the ceremonial first pitch. The chiseled rapper/actor/businessman, then 38, looked like he belonged on the field: his physique was arguably more impressive than anybody in uniform. You’d be forgiven for assuming that the Queens native would fire a strike.
But first pitches can be trickier than they seem. The list of famous folks who’ve flubbed them is long, from Carly Rae Jepsen’s disaster at Tropicana Field to Michael Jordan air-mailing it over Sammy Sosa at Wrigley Field.
None of them, though, compare to what 50 did nine years ago. This is the story of the worst first pitch in baseball history, according to the folks who witnessed it. (All titles reflect roles at the time.)
The Warm-Up
The Mets had invited 50 Cent to Citi Field to promote a post-game show at the stadium later that summer, along with an upcoming album, Animal Ambition. A southpaw, 50 warmed up for his first pitch in the Mets’ bullpen, leisurely tossing the ball at a three-quarters arm angle.
Anthony Recker (catcher, New York Mets): To the generation I played with, he was a really, really big name. To just have him there, guys were like, “That’s cool. You got to meet 50 Cent.”
Kevin Burkhardt (New York Mets field reporter, SNY): I was there for [Howard Stern producer] Baba Booey’s first pitch, which was a disaster. But that kind of fits him. Carly Rae Jepsen, I don’t expect her to throw a good first pitch. But 50 Cent, I expect him to throw a damn good first pitch.
Jon Niese (pitcher, New York Mets): I thought I had heard through the grapevine that he was an athlete back in the day in high school or whatever.
50 Cent (to MLB.com): I played a little bit growing up. But not on any teams or anything like that.
Via a spokesperson, 50 Cent declined to comment for this story.
Niese: I had heard he warmed up a little bit and threw a few. But nerves must have got to him.
David Wright (third baseman, New York Mets): Nerves is a real thing. I’ve thrown out a couple of first pitches — and I used to do this for a living — and I got nervous throwing out a first pitch. And secondly, I’ve seen the best NBA players, NFL players, even quarterbacks throw out first pitches and look like they’ve never picked up a baseball before. Just because you’re a great athlete doesn’t translate all that well to throwing a baseball.
Curtis Granderson (outfielder, New York Mets): Especially for adult males, it’s the worst opportunity, because you’re supposed to throw a strike. So if you do, OK, great, you were supposed to. But when you mess it up, then all the attention is on you. So I advise people, if you get asked to do it, have your child do it, have a friend do it. You don’t do it.
Dontrelle Willis (former MLB pitcher): On my bobblehead day, I had my 10-year-old do it. True story. I wanted no part of that.
Josh Lewin (radio broadcaster, New York Mets): Go ahead and skip one, go ahead and sail one. That doesn’t merit anything. I don’t care who you are. If you’re the President of the United States or a sitcom star, you’re allowed to throw one three feet wide, allowed to throw one in the dirt, and nobody reacts. Because it’s tough. It’s harder than you think. You realize you get one shot at this, and everybody’s watching and you feel suddenly unnatural.
Josh Harrison (infielder, Pittsburgh Pirates): You can go into the cage or bullpen and practice as much as you want, but it’s a different animal when you’re out there. In Pitt, Mike Tyson threw out the first pitch one time, and I remember our backup catching saying he was in the cage for an hour and a half trying to figure out how to throw it.
Gary Cohen (New York Mets play-by-play announcer, SNY): What I don’t know is what [50’s] pre-pitch preparation was like. I don’t know if he went out there cold or whether he had practiced.
Recker: I remember someone telling me that he was in the bullpen warming up. He practiced a little bit.
Marc Levine (New York Mets photographer, to MLB Cut4): He was throwing well. I can’t say 100 percent that he was throwing strikes. Nothing was really going astray, where, you know, it was like, "Cover your head." His form was good: He kinda throws about 3/4, not over the top, comes sidearm a little bit. Seemed like he was ready to go when he was called upon to do it.
The Pitch
Wearing a blue Mets fitted and home white jersey with the number 50 and “JACKSON” stitched on the back, the lefty took the mound without a glove while Niese, the Mets’ starter, stood off to the side. 50 toed the rubber and began a windup seemingly modeled after an old-time pitcher: he moved his hands behind his back, kicked up his right leg, pushed off with his left, and released the ball. It was not immediately obvious what had happened.
Niese: Being in New York, there’s a lot of famous people that throw out the first pitch. I just thought it was a typical celebrity first pitch, and then the circus started.
Willis: When I saw it first and he cocked back, I was like, “Oh, no. This is trash.” All his swag went out the window. You know, he’s a cool dude. But when he cocked back it was like, “Oh, no, that’s not good.”
Wright: I didn’t know 50 Cent was throwing out the first pitch. So out of the corner of my eye, I was trying to check it out, but cognizant of getting ready for a game. I think I saw the tail end of the throw and I almost thought to myself like, “That can’t be. I must’ve missed something.”
Recker: I thought it was a joke. I really did.
Willis: It was trash.
Burkhardt: I just remember it was the worst thing I’d ever seen.
Niese: Bad arm slot. It just shows you how hard this game really is.
Lewin: I can’t remember another one that was that geometrically insane. It’s such a bizarre angle. You expected more from a guy who looked like he could play ball. It was jarring.
Cohen: If he warmed up in the bullpen, then that is truly sad.
Harrison: In the on-deck circle, I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize how bad it was—how far left it was—because of my angle until I saw the replay that night. When I saw it live, I was like, he missed by a little bit. But when I saw it on TV I was like, dang, he missed by more than a little bit.
Recker: You can see me in the video. I kind of take a jab that way real quick and then I just stop and watch it. I’m like, “Is someone messing with me?”
Wright: My biggest recollection is our team photographer almost got hit by that pitch. Either he wasn’t paying attention or he was extremely stoic.
Levine: It just literally whizzed by me, by my ear, to the point where it almost sounded like when a bee goes “bzzz” by you. You wanted to put your hand up to your ear to swat it away.
Niese: I think my first reaction was I hollered, “Holy shit.”
Recker: I looked back and he’s kind of got that look on his face like, “Oh, what did I do?”
Post-Pitch
The world saw 50 Cent’s first pitch on the SNY telecast after a commercial break, just before the game commenced at 7:11 pm ET. As the replay aired, Cohen told viewers, “And his first pitch was not great.” He then mimicked the great Bob Uecker’s call from the classic 1989 movie Major League, describing 50’s effort as “Juusst a bit outside.” For his part, 50 looked surprised and amused, throwing his arms up with a big smile splashed across his face as Recker went out to shake his hand. 50 was next seen on camera signing autographs and posing for pictures with kids in the stands. He stuck around long enough to talk to Burkhardt about the pitch.
Burkhardt: He was super cool about it to me. Some dudes, you never know—some guys would be bristly about it. But he was fun. I respected that.
Harrison: He took it like a G.
Lewin: Jon Niese was usually pretty tightly wound, and not a guy who would break out into a cackle no matter what happened. I just remember him having this uncontrolled laugh off to the side.
Wright: I started laughing and at one point I saw a picture of my hands over my head and Jon Niese was laughing and I think 50 gave the palms up—like a What just happened? type of deal.
Recker: I don’t remember what I said to him, but it was something along the lines of, “I thought you were warming up. What happened?”
Granderson: We were like, “Was that real or not?” I knew he had an album coming out, so I was like, “Man, what great PR.” To go up there and throw it so crazy and so wild that you have to talk about him.
50 Cent (to MLB Central): If I throw a strike, nobody talks about it. If I hit the cameraman, we on CNN all day.
Recker: As a player, you think this guy has been in front of crowds and knows what pressure is like. But he was out of his element. He’s used to singing in front of crowds. He’s not used to pitching in front of crowds.
Wright: We had a video replay room [near the dugout] where I could watch my at-bats or check to see if I thought it was a ball and the umpire called it a strike. So I went in there with a couple of guys to replay it and see exactly what happened. We all got a good laugh out of it in the middle of the game.
Burkhardt: The best part of being there was that all the security guys are New York cops or retired cops. And they’re the best with the thick accents. So they’re like, [in heavy New York accent], "Hey, Kev, what the fuck was that?”
The Aftermath
Every time there’s a terrible first pitch, especially one thrown by a boldfaced name, it's inevitably compared to 50’s. Shortly after the incident, he joked in a Reddit AMA that the horrible first pitch was because “I have a skeletal muscle injury on my left shoulder from excessive masturbation so take it easy lol.” In 2018, the Mets invited him back to redeem himself. Newsday reported he was waiting for a “special occasion.” Almost everyone there for the first pitch agrees 50 should get another shot.
Cohen: In terms of celebrities throwing out first pitches, it’s hard to remember any that are worse.
Lewin: I don’t think any of us realized it would go so super-viral and become such a big thing.
Niese: Whenever the video surfaces we always get a good laugh about it. A lot of my friends back home always ask about it.
Recker: I got to know Andy Cohen in my time in New York. Sure enough, I go to one of his shows, and I was the bartender that night on Watch What Happens Live. Wouldn’t you know—one of the two guests is 50 Cent. [Cohen] said he had no intention of putting me on that night with 50, it just worked out that way. Fate would have us meet one more time before my time in New York was done.
Granderson: He started a precedent—most hip-hop artists I’ve seen throw first pitches are almost as bad. I don’t know if it’s something in the hip-hop community, they just can’t do it. 50’s obviously the worst, but the hip-hop community needs some work. Call Nelly up.
Harrison: I’m a big believer in second chances. But it’s going to have to be something he answers. Does he want to redeem himself?
Cohen: Who wouldn’t want a do-over after that?
Lewin: People love second chances. I can’t believe he can do any worse if he goes back and tries it again. I think it might conjure up some fun memories for people, why not?
Willis: He should do it again.
Burkhardt: He should totally do it again.
Wright: Everybody deserves a chance at redemption. Now I’ll say this: I don’t think he deserves another chance if he doesn’t put in a little preparation this time. If he’s willing to put a little work in to make it better, then 100 percent he deserves a second chance.
Niese: I think that he should redeem himself. But I heard he doesn’t want to.
Granderson: All he can do is mess it up again. Do not do it. Even if they offer it to you—I don’t care what it is, even if it’s the World Series—nope, you do not do that.
The New York Mets: One of baseball’s magnificent features is redemption, from at-bat to at-bat to game to game. The Mets have an open invitation to one of music’s iconic artists and proud Queens native—50 Cent—to return to the Citi Field mound for another first pitch.
