Ghost’s Papa Emeritus IV Couldn’t Find the Strike Zone at Last Night’s White Sox Game

During last night’s Chicago White Sox game against the Cleveland Guardians, RHP Papa Emeritus IV threw a single pitch and was immediately removed from the game after sailing what looked like a curveball into the batter’s box, nearly giving the batter a concussion.

Ticket holders were appalled at the pitcher’s performance, who said his command was barely there from the beginning. At one point, a bewildered middle aged Sox fan wondered out loud what manager Tony LaRussa was even thinking bringing in the painted faced pitcher.

“It’s obvious this guy can barely throw at all, but here we are — LaRussa’s asleep at the wheel again. Now we gotta get our actual starter out there to take the field and salvage such a wasted opportunity!”

Most people were left stunned at the move, as Papa Emeritus IV certainly looked the part but for some reason was allowed to carry a barbed bat to the mound, bucking more than a hundred years of baseball tradition. After the game, LaRussa had this to say about his decision.

“You guys do know that Swedish guy was here for the ceremonial first pitch, right? That wasn’t even the worst first pitch I’d ever seen before! At least he took the time to look the part. He even put on matching stirrups! Maybe if he’d put down the mic and pick up a ball, I could use him in the late innings!”

The club did confirm that Papa Emeritus was the team’s guest to throw out the first ceremonial pitch before the game started at 7:10 p.m. CST at Guaranteed Rate Park last night. As a result, no one from the opposing team was at risk of injury. White Sox reliever Liam Hendricks caught Papa Emeritus IV’s errant pitch.

You can check out Papa’s first pitch, as well as various fan reactions on Twitter, below.