The Slanch Report

It should be required that if you star in a baseball related movie, even if you don’t play in the film, that you should be capable of throwing the ball. Tom Hanks, currently in Japan with Ron Howard to promote their abomination Angels and Demons — the ending to which Ron Darling revealed during the Mets game the other day — was invited to throw the first pitch between the Yomiuri Giants and Chunichi Dragons. Ron Howard lined up behind the plate, and despite taking several warm-up tosses in the bullpen prior, Hanks’ pitch bounced several feet in front of the plate.

“Tons of practice and I bounced it in the dirt, I’m humiliated” Hanks said. “I went from the rush of being in the sacred spot to the humiliation of being mortal.”

Hanks said he has been impressed with Japanese baseball over the years.

“I think it’s a great game,” said Hanks. “I think a lot of the teams could compete (with major league teams) but I’ve only seen one game.”

[AP]