CHICAGO -- Mary Ruich anticipated control issues.
"I knew it wasn't going to be good, but I thought I'd be close," she said Wednesday. "It was scary."
The rookie right-hander threw one of the most wayward ceremonial first pitches ever when she plunked a team photographer standing close by, between the mound and first base line, prior to Tuesday's game against the Kansas City Royals.
The ball went right off Darren Georgia's lens, nowhere near the plate.
Ruich, a server in one of the Guaranteed Rate Field restaurants, earned the honor as a Chicago White Sox employee of the homestand, the team's version of employee of the month.