WATCH: Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman throws first pitch at Irish baseball game
Most ceremonial first pitches are soft tosses.
You know how they go. The celebrity or public figure steps in front of the mound, not on it, and gingerly lobs a ball toward home plate. Even with such a relaxed approach, somehow they always seem to go awry. Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman went at it a little differently. Yet, it yielded a similar result.
Dressed in a green Irish baseball jersey with a white sweatshirt underneath and his iconic white Vans shoes to match, Freeman went all the way up onto the rubber to throw out the first pitch before Notre Dame’s Friday night series opener against Boston College.
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He knelt over and reached down as if he was coating his hand with a rock rosin bag. He got into the stretch and paused for a moment before delivering the ball. Freeman one-hopped the throw just in front of the left-handed batter’s box, but it wasn’t so far off target to where the catcher couldn’t snag it off the hop. The throw recorded a reading of 53 miles per hour on the radar gun.
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More than a display of the former Ohio State standout and 2009 fifth-round NFL Draft pick’s athletic talent, Freeman’s appearance at Eck Stadium was a chance for fans to applaud their first-year football coach in a unique setting. It was also a chance for Freeman’s kids to run onto the field and watch their dad attempt to throw a strike. He didn’t, but his presence wasn’t lost on any Notre Dame folks in the stadium.
Two of Freeman’s children were even given the opportunity to announce Notre Dame’s batters in the third inning. They were never announced to the crowd as Freeman’s kids, but people in the stands still couldn’t help but look through the glass windows to get a glimpse at the young part-time public address announcers.
Freeman was met by the entire Notre Dame baseball team just outside of the dugout after his throw. He had a brief conversation with Notre Dame baseball coach Link Jarrett. The crowd gave him one more round of applause to send him off.
Freeman came back to South Bend from Las Vegas, where he was Thursday night to watch former Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton get selected by the Baltimore Ravens with the No. 14 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Next up on the agenda for Freeman? Recruiting. Spring practices ended last weekend after the conclusion of the Blue-Gold Game. The next few months will be spent largely locking down future Irish football players.
But before that, why not sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” with current ones?
