Called On in Relief, Daniel Flubs First Pitch

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel was scheduled to throw out the first pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals' Opening Day game on Monday. A delay in his return flight from Florida, however, forced the Tigers to go to their bullpen. As a result, it was quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Chase Daniel who got the call along with his battery mate wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned for Daniel.

The crowd gave a standing ovation to Daniel and one of his favorite wide receiver targets, Jeremy Maclin and in a nice touch, Daniel brought out a ball he was more accustomed to throwing...a football.

It certainly couldn't have been the pressure of throwing in front of a bunch of people, or the fact that the weather conditions weren't ideal, both of which Daniel is used to, so I'm going to blame the fact that Daniel BOUNCED the pitch/pass into Maclin from 60 feet 6 inches on standing on the mound.

So Daniel's pitch/pass missed Maclin and apparently rolled to the backstop eliciting boos from the Cardinal faithful. I don't expect many incompletions like that between the two this fall.

Interestingly one local writer went as far as to have a major league scout give his appraisal of Daniel's pitching prowess.

His analysis after the jump.

Body: "He's got the wrong body for a pitcher. He's too thick."

Delivery: "High three-quarter."

Arm action: "OK. He shoves it a bit, but you expect that from a football quarterback."

Control: "Very poor."

Velocity: "Looked usable."

Poise: "He's got major-league average poise. He's comfortable."

Ouch. Not exactly Heisman-like praise. I've searched high and low for video evidence, but have so far come up empty. If you run across it, please let me know.