Ceremonial first-pitch thrower reunites with unintended target
You might say it was the pitch hurt around the world. Millions have now seen the ceremonial first pitch by Jordan Leandre Wednesday night at Boston's Fenway Park – and we've all had the same reaction.
The 17-year-old was on the mound in Massachusetts once again Thursday night at a Cambridge charity game, but this time he was aiming at photographer Tony Capobianco on purpose, as he perched behind home plate, reports CBS News correspondent DeMarco Morgan.
Jordan's pitches Thursday night were far better than his wild throw at Boston's Fenway Park the night before. That was the ceremonial first pitch in front of baseball legends, a game honoring the 1967 "Impossible Dream Team" Red Sox.
"So as soon as I lifted my leg, I was still kind of in between throwing it hard or lobbing it in there. And it slipped out of my hand, and as soon as I saw where it was going, in my mind just went uh oh," Leandre said.
Jordan hit a very unintended target. Capobianco captured an image just before the fateful moment of contact.
"I was in shock at first, and I covered my face because I didn't really want to laugh. And I saw he was OK, and I was kind of like, you know, 'sorry about that!'" Leandre said. "I talked to him outside of Fenway, and he said he was OK, he said I didn't quite get him clean, he said I wasn't that accurate."
Indeed, Capobianco soon tweeted: "THANK THE LAWD it was just a bit outside."
Jordan has a long history with Fenway Park, throwing out the first pitch five times now – an inspiration to fans and players alike. When he was just 2, he was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a bone and soft tissue cancer that affects mostly children and teenagers.
Jordan never thought he'd be where he is today. "When I was first diagnosed, the long term survival rate was five years. And I'm going on 13 right now."
Today, Jordan is cancer-free.
"I think he got cancer to inspire people, to help others. Because he just-- even in one of the most embarrassing moments in his life, he's laughing about it, he's joking about it," said Jordan's father, Ken Leandre.
And Jordan did eventually laugh about it.
"I did when I got back up to my seats 'cause everybody sitting around me was having an absolute ball about it."
