Josh Jackson’s Phoenix debut one for the all-time blooper reels

By Matt Tait     Jun 26, 2017

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Former KU star Josh Jackson laughs and throws up his hands after firing out a horrific ceremonial first pitch at Friday's Arizona Diamondbacks game. (AP Photo)

Last Friday night, at a ballpark full of more than 30,000 Arizona Diamondbacks fans, the baseball crowd was treated to a little basketball flavor when former Kansas standout Josh Jackson was invited to toss out the ceremonial first pitch.

Jackson, who was the No. 4 overall pick in last Thursday’s NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns, was there, decked out in a Diamondbacks jersey, ready to meet his newest fans and have a little fun.

The fun certainly came, but not exactly in the way anyone was expecting.

If you haven’t seen or heard anything about this, you simply have to keep reading. If you have, it’s probably worth revisiting because the whole spectacle was so hilarious.

From his spot on the mound next to Haason Reddick, the first-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in last spring’s NFL Draft, Jackson waved to the crowd and then prepared to fire his pitch.

That’s where it all fell apart.

Jackson was a good sport about the whole thing, but this was 50 Cent bad. And Jackson knew it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83FHj53QBHY

Despite the toss conjuring up memories of Bob Uker’s famous call of “Juuussssssst a bit outside” from the movie Major League, Jackson doubled over in laughter and then walked off the field explaining exactly what went wrong to the Diamondbacks player designated to catch the pitch.

“I shoot basketballs,” Jackson joked while making the motion of shooting a jumper.

Later in the night, Jackson was again at the center of the Diamondbacks’ fun when he exchanged hats with the D-Backs mascot, D. Baxter the Bobcat, whose oversized hat fit over Jackson’s hair much better than the MLB issued hat he had been wearing.

Clearly, Jackson already has made steps toward endearing himself to the Phoenix community and, a day later, he was at a Suns outreach event working with young people at a basketball camp in the area.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.