Kevin Morby Threw An MLB-Worthy First Pitch At A Kansas City Royals Game

A few weeks ago, Kevin Morby took to Twitter to ask, “If enough people like this tweet will the [Kansas City Royals] please let me throw out the first pitch?” The team was on board, replying, “1,738 likes and it’s a deal.” That figure, by the way, is a nod to the team’s 2015 season, when players had fun by fining each other if they didn’t say “1738” (in reference to Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen”) in post-game interviews.

Morby’s tweet quickly reached the required threshold (even if Morby didn’t originally get what the number meant) and a few days later, he shared a video of himself practicing for his pitch with a confident-looking throw. He also noted his pitch would take place on July 8.

On the day of the game this past Friday, before the throw, he took to Twitter to ask which of three paths he should take: “A) throw it in the dirt for potential Rock Bottom theyre-all-gonna-laugh-at-you meme fodder,” “B) give an earnest childhood dream attempt pitch down the middle (which could result in option A),” or “C) a safe lob over the plate.”

When it came time for Morby to take the mound, he appeared to go B with perhaps a touch of C, delivering a composed throw with a bit of heat behind it that ended up taking a nice line right over the plate. It’s a bit of a bummer that celebrity first pitches are usually only memorable if they’re laughably miserable (as Morby referenced), because in terms of the quality of his throw, Morby’s ceremonial first pitch has to be up there among the best ever.

Honestly, Morby’s throw was better than some pitches that have taken place in actual MLB games. This season, a lot of position players (aka non-pitchers) have taken the mound and offered pedestrian-looking pitches. Morby’s throw certainly looks stronger than the 35-mile-per-hour lob that Chicago Cubs first-baseman Frank Schwindel floated over the plate last month, which resulted in a home run.

On his Instagram post of the pitch, Morby got some back-pats from his indie-rock cohorts: Caroline Rose commented, “this is so wholesome i love it so much;” Allison Crutchfield (sister of Morby’s partner Waxahatchee, aka Katie Crutchfield) dropped some single tear emojis; and Faye Webster (who last year shared a video for her song “A Dream With A Baseball Player“) wrote, “10/10.”

Check it the pitch below.