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He was just living his best life

The Padres hosted a Grateful Dead Night on Thursday, which was actually more like Bill Walton Night. 

Walton, the San Diego native and world’s biggest Dead fan, was on hand to participate in all sorts of activities. He kicked off the night by banging around on the bongos with a Dead tribute band. 

Then he threw out the first pitch, which, even with some coaching from Bud Black, went rather poorly. (He did, however, manage to convince the Padres to let him throw a ceremonial second pitch, which was right over the plate.) 

That’s where most celebrities’ nights would end. They would walk off the field, retreat to their sweet seats and enjoy the game. Not Walton.

Walton stuck around to help his old pal Black out with the lineup card exchange. It’s usually a perfunctory affair, consisting of nothing more than a few brief handshakes. Walton turned it into a minutes-long production that apparently ended up pushing back the start of the game. 

That’s the risk you run with Walton. Just ask Dave Pasch. Walton is going to do what he wants, when he wants to, and there’s nothing you can do about it. That’s what makes him great. 

What a moment for this guy

Remember Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi? He’s the guy who landed a tryout with the Browns by pretending to know a scout. His gambit worked, and he’s one step closer to making the team after housing a punt return in his preseason debut. 

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He thought he was just throwing out the first pitch. He got a scholarship too. 

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Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.