One evening awhile back at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, before a Kansas City Royals-Chicago White Sox baseball game, Chicago White Sox "employee of the month" Mary Ruich threw out the first pitch before the start of the contest. Here it is in all its glory.

The bean ball victim was Darren Georgia, a team photographer recording the event live. Fortunately, Georgia later reported that both he and his camera were just fine.

Having been a pitcher in California, and having once delivered a concussion-causing bean ball, I can sympathize with some of what Ms. Ruich must have felt and experienced. 

For all the oldtimers out there, this was somewhat reminiscent of the time Ed Ames demonstrated how to throw a tomahawk on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" -- way back when. It was vintage Carson.

But Ruich, who works at one of the stadium's restaurants, later said of her pitch that she "knew it wasn't going to be good, but I thought I'd be close. It was scary. When I saw the camera get bobbled, I was like, Oh my God! Maybe nobody saw that. I'll just run away."

Mary now joins some high-profile people in the discussion of worst first pitch performance: former Cincinnati mayor Mark Mallory, Bruce Willis, Snoop Dogg, Michael Jordan, and Carl Lewis.

Later appearing together as good sports, both Ruich and Georgia said it was all in good fun.