Report: Will Ferrell Will Play 9 Positions in 1 Day at 5 Cactus League Games
Update: Wednesday, March 18
Will Ferrell went on the Late Show With David Letterman Tuesday night to talk about his Cactus League experience.
He explained the philanthropy behind the stunt and how pant-soilingly terrifying it is to stand in the batter's box as 90 mph fastballs whip by.
Ferrell said the worst part was giving up three runs while playing left field for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who were losing big time to the Cincinnati Reds prior to his entering the game and even worse by the time he left.
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Update: Thursday, March 12
Will Ferrell took a picture with Oakland Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick, who came in costume as Norm McDonald dressing up as Burt Reynolds who pretended his name was "Turd Ferguson" during a classic SNL "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch.
You're weird, Josh Reddick.
Meanwhile, Ferrell made sure to enjoy himself as he moved around and played with the different teams.
Ferrell didn't have the best showings at the plate, but he was able to hold a runner to just a single with a nice play in center field with the Los Angeles Angels.
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Twitter user Tomas Ponce captured a picture of Will Ferrell doffing his cap to Oakland A's fans, presumably right before changing into a Seattle Mariners jersey.
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Will is reportedly through the first leg of his five-part journey today. Two positions down, seven to go.
Keep truckin', Rojo.
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Will is now taking cuts. Looking strong.
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Ferrell has passed his physical and is ready to rock.
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Will Ferrell is preparing for hot, Cactus League action. Do not bother him. He's entering Beast Mode.
Stay tuned. It's gonna get strange.
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Five years after his baseball career peaked with a mound appearance as “Billy Ray ‘Rojo’ Johnson,” Will Ferrell is returning for another crack at the diamond.
According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (h/t AZCentral.com’s Andrew Joseph), the comedian will spend Thursday crisscrossing Arizona via helicopter to play in five Cactus League games.
The stunt is reportedly part of a cancer-awareness initiative and will have Ferrell playing all nine positions on the field over the course of the day.
Here’s the rundown of Ferrell’s schedule (he’ll play one position for each team at every game):
- 12:05 p.m. PT: Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics (Hohokam Stadium).
- 1:10 p.m. PT: Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Tempe Diablo Stadium)
- 2:10 p.m. PT: Cincinnati Reds at Arizona Diamondbacks (Salt River Fields at Talking Stick)
- 4:05 p.m. PT: San Francisco Giants at Chicago White Sox (Camelback Ranch)
- 6:15 p.m. PT: Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres (Peoria Stadium)
Yep, that’s a busy day. If we’re lucky, Ferrell will be ejected and forcefully stuffed back onto the helicopter at each game.
I'm just saying, he didn’t last long as beer-drinking Rojo Johnson—then again, no one said the lizard-smuggling minor leaguer’s life was easy.
Dan is on Twitter. Long live Rojo.
