Watch Browns Denzel Ward’s crazy first pitch at Guardians game

And Roseanne Barr being Roseanne Barr.

In Major League Baseball games, to be asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch is an honor. Gronk throwing a strike, 7-time Olympic Gold Medalist Simone Biles doing a twist backflip, Jerry Seinfeld throwing a strike, Olympic Gold medalist Laurie Hernandez flipping before releasing the ball, “Back to the Future’s” Leah Thompson arriving in a DeLorean time machine, Sister Mary Jo Sobieck nailing the strike zone on Catholic Night, a T-Rex, plus 24 Presidents including George Bush, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Ronald Reagan.

Over the decades, numerous Cleveland Browns have been invited to toss out the first pitch at an Indians/Guardians game. This year, draft picks Zak Zinter and Michael Hall, Jr. have donned a Guardians jersey and shown their stuff on the mound.

On Tuesday, May 21, it was Denzel Ward’s turn. And what he did was like no other athlete before him.

The Tuesday game was against the New York Mets, the middle contest in a three-game home stand. The Guardians were currently on a four-game winning streak and sit atop the American League Central division with a 31-17 record just a few games ahead of the Kansas City Royals. For this game, 20,977 were in attendance.

Ward was introduced to the crowd who were still filing into Progressive Field.

He was wearing tan baggy pants with a strange flap, Browns ballcap, gold chain, and a Guardians jersey which had imprinted on the back “Ward” with his Browns jersey #21. Although May is a hot month, Ward was wearing a yellow long sleeve shirt with black lettering “Tokyo” running down the sleeve underneath his jersey. His black/yellow Nike Air Jordans were a complete match.

As Ward approached the mound, he began to play catch with himself several times. When he stepped up to the rubber, he pulled out a Sharpie, and then was seen writing something on the baseball.

After his windup, he chunked the ball high and deep over the backstop netting and into the crowd.

He had a broad smile, then held up both arms with his index fingers pointing towards the direction of his throw.

It was later known that Ward had autographed the ball. However, he made a mistake. Baseballs should be signed in ballpoint pen, not Sharpies or paint pens. The inks in these devices bleed over time even if kept out of the sun. The inks in ballpoint pens remain solvent.

Needless to say, Ward’s toss created a new threshold in the ceremonial first pitch.