Stick to basketball Victor! 7-foot-4 phenom Wembanyama throws a howler of a first pitch at Yankees game – ahead of the NBA Draft where he is set to be picked first

• Victor Wembanyama arrived at Newark airport Monday ahead of the NBA Draft
• Tuesday, the future NBA star had the honor of throwing the Yankees first pitch
• DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news

By Isabel Baldwin For Dailymail.Com

Published: 19:11 EDT, 20 June 2023 | Updated: 21:26 EDT, 20 June 2023

Future NBA star Victor Wembanyama had the honor of throwing the first pitch at the New York Yankees game Tuesday night but it didn’t go too well.

The French teenager, who touched down in the United States Monday ahead of Thursday’s draft, wasted no time in visiting the country’s other iconic sports teams. 

Wembanyama, 19, is used to wowing on the basketball court and is expected to continue doing so in the NBA but his first visit to the mound could be his last. 

He threw the first pitch at the Yankees’ game Tuesday but yanked it well outside, missing the catcher entirely. 

Before the Yankees’ matchup against the Seattle Mariners the 7-foot-4 phenom shared a snap of the baseball looking freakishly small in his hands. 

Victor Wembanyama had the honor of throwing the first pitch at the New York Yankees game

The future NBA star shared a snap of the baseball looking freakishly small in his hands

The French phenom took the time to sign autographs for fans at the side of the field

The French superstar appeared to acknowledge how small the baseball, which resembled something more like a golf ball, looked in his hands as he wrote: ‘Lmaooooo.’

Wembanyama, wearing an unreleased pair Nike x Drake sneakers and a Yankees jersey, took the time to sign autographs for fans at the side of the field. 

The sensation will be taken No. 1 overall by the San Antonio Spurs when the card is read out at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. 

Wembanyama, wearing a Joe DiMaggio No. 5 jersey, took a few swings in the batting cages and showed off yet another skill as he juggles baseball to the awe of this audience gathered. 

He was also spotted chatting to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, hilariously towering over him. 

He was given a preview of what his life Stateside would be like when he was swarmed by fans at Newark Airport Monday ahead of the draft. 

In video exclusively obtained by Mail Sport, Wembanyama admitted he’s excited to be in the Big Apple. 

‘I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,’ the French phenom said, via Adam Glyn. 

The young Frenchman is the biggest NBA Draft prize in more than a decade. Dubbed a ‘generational talent’ by none other than LeBron James, Wembanyama is athletic, skilled, enormous, and still only 19. 

Wembanyama will be drafted precisely two decades on from when James was taken by his hometown organization, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in 2003. He has received praise for all corners of the globe in recent months – and perhaps none greater than from James’s former teammate, Richard Jefferson. 

‘If LeBron James at that exact moment showed up, Victor would go higher than him,’ Jefferson, a former teammate of James, said during an October airing of NBA Today.

The 7-foot-5 sensation wore a Joe DiMaggio No. 5 Yankees jersey and black shorts 

He chatted to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman (L), hilariously towering over him

Wembanyama was spotted at Newark airport in New York City ahead of Thursday’s draft

The San Antonio Spurs are near certain to take the most prized player since LeBron James

‘LeBron James, and all the things that we saw — and I’m not saying he’s going to be better than LeBron James — what I’m saying is right now, I remember LeBron James 20 years ago. 

‘That player was six-foot-seven, this person is seven-[foot]-four. LeBron James would be number two if he has the exact same age in the exact same draft, LeBron James would be number two. That’s how crazy this kid is as a prospect.’

The 19-year-old will play in the NBA’s Summer League this July after previous reporting said the French phenom would skip the event.

Wembanyama just wrapped up the LNB Pro A championship series, where his Metropolitans 92 squad were swept in a best-of-five series vs. Monaco.

George Frazier, a relief pitcher who made two World Series appearances over a decade-long MLB career before becoming a broadcaster, passed away in Tulsa on Monday at age 68.

A specific cause of death has not been revealed, but he had been battling an undisclosed illness, according to the Denver Post.

Frazier is remembered by Colorado Rockies fans as the team’s color commentator from 1998 until 2015.

‘In a game full of charismatic characters, George had a seat at the head table,’ long-time Rockies play-by-play announcer Drew Goodman told the Denver Post. 

Best known as Rich ‘Goose’ Gossage’s setup man for the New York Yankees, Frazier also pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins, winning a World Series in his final season with the latter. 

George Frazier, pictured here at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, died Monday in Tulsa at 68

The Rockies also released a statement on Monday.  

‘We are deeply saddened at the passing of former Rockies color analyst, George Frazier,’ the statement began.

‘A retired MLB pitcher, George was a mainstay and the voice behind many classic calls on Rockies broadcasts from 1998-2015. For a generation of Rockies fans, George Frazier was synonymous with Rockies baseball. Our thoughts are with George’s wife, Kay, and his four kids, Matt, Brian, Parker and Georgia, during this time.’

A lanky, 6-foot-5 right-hander, Frazier was a star a Springfield, Missouri’s Hillcrest High School, where he played alongside two other future major leaguers in Bob Detherage and Keith Drumright. Although he was drafted in the 13th round by the Texas Rangers, Frazier instead enrolled at the University of Oklahoma before ultimately being picked by the Milwaukee Brewers in the ninth round of the 1976 draft.

A year later, he was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals for Buck Martinez, and soon blossomed into a reliable option out of the bullpen for manager Ken Boyer.

Frazier is remembered by Rockies fans as the team’s color commentator from 1998 until 2015

Frazier dropped his ERA to an impressive 2.74 in 1980, but had his best season in the Bronx in 1981 after being traded Rafael Santana and posting a miniscule 1.63 ERA, while serving as Rich ‘Goose’ Gossage’s setup man.

Frazier made the first of two career World Series appearances that season, but pitched poorly, yielding seven earned runs in just 3.2 innings of work against the eventual-champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Worst of all, he became the first pitcher to lose three games in a single best-of-seven World Series.

As disappointing as that was, Frazier got a literal and figurative pat on the back from cantankerous owner George Steinbrenner.

‘It wasn’t your fault, kid,’ Steinbrenner said to Frazier, as retold by the reliever to the New York Times in 2011. ‘You’ll be a Yankee next year, don’t worry about it.’

Frazier was a Yankee the following season, and remained a solid option out of the bullpen for the battalion of managers who toiled under Steinbrenner’s wrath in the 1980s: Gene Michael, Bob Lemon, Gene Michael, Clyde King, and Billy Martin.

During that time, he built a rapport with Yankee legend and Oklahoma native, Mickey Mantle.

‘Mickey walks over and says, ”Hey, I heard you’re from Oklahoma,” so we visited for 15 or 20 minutes, and after the game, we sat and talked again,’ Frazier told the Times. ‘From that time on, Mickey kind of accepted me in as one of his buddies.’

In 1984, Frazier was dealt with outfielder Otis Nixon to Cleveland, who traded him four months later along with Rick Sutcliffe to the Chicago Cubs for a package that included slugger Joe Carter.

Frazier was dealt one last time in 1987, landing in Minnesota.

George Frazier talks with catcher Rick Cerone during the 1981 World Series 

He would go on to pitch two scoreless innings in a World Series loss to the Cardinals, but the Twins would ultimately win the title in the title in seven games, and Frazier would never pitch in the majors again.

Frazier later returned to the World Series as an announcer with the Rockies in 2007, as the team fell to the Boston Red Sox.

His son, Parker, also had a professional baseball career, reaching Triple-A with the Rockies, White Sox and Diamondbacks organizations.

In 2011, Frazier described himself as fortunate to the New York Times: I wasn’t entitled to pitch in the 1981 World Series. I wasn’t entitled to pitch in the 1987 World Series. It was a privilege I had an opportunity to do that, and I still feel that every day.’