Who needs a catcher when you can do this?
Garrett Richards pitches to himself, frightens fans
You’d jump too if you thought you were going to get hit in the head.
Rob Carr
Everyone plays their part beautifully. Denard Span slowly backs up and heads to first base. The backstop realizes his effort was unnecessary, then starts his trot to the mound to talk his pitcher down. The umpire panics before realizing he's escaped injury. Garrett Richards stands there and sadly fields the ball he pitched to himself because that was embarrassing.
We’ve also got the fans who reacted how we all would have -- one paying enough attention to cower in fear, another snapping to attention mid-text when the pitch hits:
Don’t try to act tough, you would flinch and scream, too.
