The ceremonial pitch is a spotlight event and one that can follow you throughout history, whether that pitch is good, bad or somewhere in between.
There have been plenty of good pitches, but it’s not every day you see a ceremonial pitch thrown at a decent speed. At least, that was before Japanese model Ami Inamura, who recently threw a ceremonial first pitch at 65 mph before a Nippon Professional Baseball game.
Inamura has had her own share of baseball experiences, as she apparently played baseball for nine years from elementary school through junior high. During her years in junior high, she was a pitcher and first baseman in Japan’s senior league. She was also part of a recent Toyota commercial in which she showed her raw ability with a baseball bat. The commercial has gone viral and garnered over six million views on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hizvlKPctkQ
But with the good pitches like Inamura’s also come the “not-so-good.”
Ceremonial first pitches can never be discussed without bringing up 50 Cent, a famous rapper who will never quite be able to shake off what can arguably be called the worst ceremonial pitch of all-time.
Though to be fair towards 50 Cent, pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen was not much better during her ceremonial pitch either.
Inamura certainly set the bar a little higher for ceremonial pitching and clearly has the skills needed to pay the bills. There is no doubt she easily ranks among the best raw ceremonial pitchers of all time.
