Taking the mound at PNC Park on Friday evening to toss the ceremonial first pitch before the Pittsburgh Pirates hosted the Philadelphia Phillies must have been surreal for Ben Roethlisberger.
After all, for the better part of the past two decades, the recently retired Steelers quarterback would have been at Saint Vincent for training camp.
After spending his entire 18-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Roethlisberger hung up the cleats in late January after a wild-card playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Roethlisberger won two Super Bowls (XL, XLIII) in Pittsburgh, ending his playing days with the fifth-most (64,008) passing yards in NFL history, while his 418 total touchdowns rank eighth all-time — career accomplishments that are sure to land him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
His presence at PNC Park on Friday was fitting as part of the Pirates’ “Yinzerpalooza” night, which featured a pregame pierogi eating contest and Pittsburgh celebrity appearances, with a concert by The Clarks capping the night after the game.
Ben Roethlisberger is greeted warmly by the crowd at PNC Park as he tosses out the ceremonial first pitch: pic.twitter.com/orqeMn83T8
— Justin Guerriero (@GuerrieroTRIB) July 29, 2022
“Any time we can kind of cross-pollinate and get Steelers or Penguins in the ballpark, I think it’s awesome,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “When you’re getting a guy of Ben’s caliber, of a player, and (with) what he’s meant to this city, I think it’s going to be really cool.”
Who would serve as Roethlisberger’s catcher Friday night proved to be a hot topic within the Pirates’ clubhouse.
Early on, Bucs closer David Bednar, a Mars native who routinely enters games at PNC Park to the tune of Styx’s “Renegade,” the Steelers’ unofficial home game hype song, jockeyed for that honor.
“It better be (me), or I’m fighting whoever it is!” Bednar joked before the game. “… I couldn’t have picked anybody better to throw out the first pitch. I’m pumped that he’s here.”
However, upon further discussion with Shelton, Bednar appears to have run unopposed in claiming the catcher’s position for Roethlisberger’s throw.
“I know David Bednar is really excited to catch the first pitch,” Shelton said. “I was with him all morning long at some firehouses and police stations, and I heard like 15 times that he was catching the first pitch.
“And he continued to say that he ‘lobbied’ for this and I’m like, ‘Who did you lobby with?’ Wasn’t it just like, ‘Hey, I want to catch the first pitch,’ and (then) you catch it?”
With Bednar behind the plate, Roethlisberger delivered a respectable strike.
“I wasn’t nervous until the (national) anthem, and then the anthem happened, and I just felt these instant butterflies and jitters,” Roethlisberger told AT&T SportsNet during a mid-game interview.
“I got out to the mound — it looked a lot further than what I was expecting and was practicing for. Luckily, I took a little something off, but I threw a strike and that’s all that matters.”
Ben Roethlisberger warming up the howitzer: pic.twitter.com/wGnn4a0IeV
— Justin Guerriero (@GuerrieroTRIB) July 29, 2022
