Washington, D.C. – Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who’s been instrumental in keeping the United States up-to-date on the COVID-19 pandemic, threw out the first pitch at the Nationals Park on Thursday night (July 23) to open up the 2020 Major League Baseball season.
But before the New York Yankees could take on the Washington Nationals, the 79-year-old member of the White House coronavirus task force had all eyes on him as he executed a wild pitch. The ball veered far to the right of Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle, his designated catcher, who managed to retrieve it with a smile on his face.
Par for the course, Twitter had jokes — and they all revolved around 50 Cent. In 2014, the Get Rich or Die Tryin’ legend lobbied the first pitch during a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets at Queens’ Citi Field stadium, which was quickly deemed one of the worst pitches in baseball history.
50 later attempted to excuse his poor form with, “I have a skeletal muscle injury on my left shoulder from excessive masturbation so take it easy lol.”
Whatever the case, Fauci’s throw yielded plenty of comparisons to Fiddy’s “just a bit outside” pitch all those years ago. While the memes are funny, Fauci is still not laughing about the coronavirus. According to USA Today, deaths caused by COVID-19 have now topped 144,000 in the U.S. and 626,000 worldwide.
But to lighten the mood, scroll through to have some laughs at 50’s expense.
50 Cent finally seeing somebody throw a first pitch worse than him pic.twitter.com/ttGtaLymD4
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) July 23, 2020
50 cent has some company pic.twitter.com/0ahpdi1b6y
— Eric Hubbs (@BarstoolHubbs) July 23, 2020
Going to call Fauci’s first pitch the second worst first pitch ever. Does not top 50 Cent at CitiField on May 27, 2014 pic.twitter.com/F4qPbCdduc
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 23, 2020
Dr. Fauci coming in to dethrone 50 Cent pic.twitter.com/SWVOcCaad1
— Joyee (@Joymemo3) July 24, 2020
50 cent watching Dr. Fauci make that first pitch …
pic.twitter.com/LLKfExsHGv
— KingCu3rvo (@KCu3rvo) July 24, 2020
“Hey 50 Cent, hold my beer”
pic.twitter.com/RByzqnM7rm
— Chicken Umm Umm Good (@ChickenManWins) July 24, 2020
50 cent and Fauci should be friends after that throw.
— Evan Daniel (@mrevandaniel) July 23, 2020
Good luck trusting this guy after that throw. That’s shades of 50 Cent there https://t.co/BfLlUtdkr8
— Dan Lifshatz (@DanLifshatz) July 24, 2020
Haha, Fauci is the new 50 Cent of First Pitches! pic.twitter.com/GCImYlz7Jz
— Adam L. Radman (@AdamRadman) July 24, 2020
Imagine Dr. Fauci and 50 Cent playing a game of catch pic.twitter.com/Gfk15jyMPA
— shelby (@shelbskaay) July 23, 2020
This will go down as one to remember. I think somewhere 50 Cent is feeling better about himself ? #openingday2020 https://t.co/pdVYodIjZT
— Dave McCann (@DaveMcCannKSL) July 23, 2020