Ceremonial first pitch at Red Sox game goes horribly wrong when the ball hits unsuspecting photographer below the belt

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Ceremonial first pitches are a bit like referees: if all goes well, no one notices, but if something goes wrong, people will never forget. On Wednesday night in Boston, the Red Sox had one of the most memorable first pitches in years.

According to Sporting News, Jordan Leandre, who threw the fateful ball, is no stranger to the pitcher’s mound, having opened more than one Red Sox game in his life, including one when he was just four years old. Leandre was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, an extremely rare form of cancer, but is now cancer-free and pitching for his high school team.

He was invited back to throw out another first pitch, and as you can see in the video below, it did not go according to plan.

That’s gotta hurt.

The photographer who unsuspectingly took one below the belt is Tony Capobianco, a man so dedicated to his craft that he snapped this photo just moments before impact.

Capobianco has since tweeted out that he’s fine, and is taking the moment in stride.

As for Leandre, he’s disappointed he didn’t get it over the plate, but in the grand scheme of things he gave the world something much more valuable than a good pitch; he gave us a viral moment.