The Redskins Blog

Ryan Kerrigan Brings the Heat

Redskins.com intern Brian Tinsman gives us an update on Redskins first-round draft pick linebacker Ryan Kerrigan.

Ryan Kerrigan’s mastery on the football field is well-documented. His time as a high school basketball player has already been covered, as have his superior swimming abilities. But wait, there’s more!

While most of the country was celebrating our nation’s armed forces with family time and backyard cookouts, Kerrigan was moonlighting as a baseball player.

Well, sort of.

Kerrigan did the honors of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the minor league baseball game between the Indianapolis Indians and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

The Indians, the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, were Kerrigan’s hometown team growing up. The home stadium, Victory Field, is considered one of the finest minor league baseball facilities in the country.

Kerrigan first invited everyone out to the game, via twitter (@RyanKerrigan):

Throwing out the first pitch at the Indy Indians game tonight..come support the Indians and watch me bring the heat! #hotstinkycheddar—
Ryan Kerrigan (@RyanKerrigan94) May 30, 2011

Now I’ve been watching baseball for a long time, and I have no idea what “hot stinky cheddar” is. Curiosity caused me to look it up, and unsurprisingly, no one had ever used that hash-tag before. But apparently it’s a good thing, because more than 8,000 fans showed up.

Kerrigan then walked us through the warming up process:

On the field here at Victory Field..loosening up the cannon for this first pitch—
Ryan Kerrigan (@RyanKerrigan94) May 30, 2011

The man knows how to hype a performance. I can’t wait to see his sack dance!

In the aftermath, Kerrigan assessed his performance:

Juuust a bit outside (Bob Ueker voice) but I got it to the plate!—
Ryan Kerrigan (@RyanKerrigan94) May 30, 2011

We don’t have visual evidence, but I think he was referencing something like this. Either way, it sounds like Kerrigan was satisfied with his football path and will not be tempted to find a more permanent gig on the pitcher’s mound.