WFAN host and Mets fans go wild over Hawk Tuah girl’s first pitch
Mets fans were salivating over the team’s decision to let Hailey Welch — aka the “Hawk Tuah” girl — throw out the first pitch before Thursday’s painful 7-6 loss to the A’s.
Welch became a viral sensation earlier this year when the 22-year-old Tennessee native described a sexual act in a fairly explicit manner.
“The Yankees have Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, who are breaking records. (Babe) Ruth, (Mickey) Mantle, (Lou) Gehrig and the Mets have Grimace and now ‘Hawk Tuah.’ Come on, brother, I can’t take it anymore, I can’t take it anymore,” ranted WFAN’s Sal Licata, a well-known Mets fan, during his and Brandon Tierney’s show Thursday. “It’s ridiculous. And then you wonder why the fans are so mad and upset. It’s embarrassing.”
“Is it the biggest deal in the world? No, absolutely not. Does it mean anything on the field? No. But that’s the problem. The problem on the field is not good enough and you come up with these silly gimmicks that are ridiculous. It’s a joke. ‘Hawk Tuah.'”
The Mets made headlines this year for a good reason: They let Grimace, Ronald McDonald’s big, purple friend, throw out the first pitch before a game.
This first pitch struck a chord with some, however, as Welch became famous for her not-so-healthy answer to the question, “What move in bed drives a man crazy every time?”
“You have to give him that ‘Hawk Tuah’ and spit on the thing, you know?” she said in an interview that had generated 6.8 million views by Friday morning.
Welch has since revealed that she quit her job “to travel” and that she took advantage of her status as an internet celebrity. During the trip, she stood on the mound at Citi Field and threw out the first pitch for a friend.
Several X-users have sharply criticized the Mets for promoting Welch before an afternoon game on a summer weekday when more children than usual can be in attendance.
“On a day when the stadium is full of kids from summer camp, this player was chosen to throw out the first pitch?!?” tweeted user @DTM_Woodworks. “Disgusting behavior that needs to be addressed and someone needs to be fired. I will not support this type of behavior from a sports franchise.”
Another commented: “I usually find stuff like this entertaining, but to bring them on during an afternoon game in the summer when there are thousands of kids from summer camp in that stadium?… Not great…🤦 Someone didn’t plan that very well…🤷♀️.”
Some talked about how embarrassing it might be to have to explain to a child who Welch is and why she became famous.
“Try explaining to your kids who that is, Mets fans! Sorry. WOW! ‘Who is that girl mom/dad and what does she do?’ —— Whoever decided she threw out the first pitch should be fired. Horrible,” wrote one X-user.
Unlike Grimace’s first pitch that put the Mets back in the playoff race, the “Hawk Tuah” era began with the Mets blowing a 5-0 lead against one of baseball’s worst teams.
