Real talk? I’ve never quite understood the appeal of America’s favorite pastime (*ducks*). Right around the fourth inning, I’m generally starting to doze. (No, really, that actually happened once at a Twins game in their last World Series-winning year). But leave it to Simone Biles to make baseball a little less boring for us non-believers; the record-breaking gymnast had the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in game two of the 2019 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals—and she honored the crowd with a world-class move of her own.
On the pitcher’s mound, Biles—who recently had a second gymnastics move named for her, in addition to becoming the most-medaled gymnast ever—spontaneously spun a quick backflip with a twist before throwing the ball to Jake Marisnick of the Houston Astros, much to the delight of the hometown crowd.
We’re not even going to get into how Biles’ hair fell effortlessly back into place upon sticking the landing (take that, haters). What we’re fascinated by is the fact that Marisnick then signed the baseball for Biles (also fascinating was the 18-inch height difference between the two; Biles is 4'8"). While it’s a longstanding tradition, after that epic move we would’ve been asking her to sign the ball.
Maybe that’s exactly the good luck charm the Astros could’ve used, since they lost to the Nationals 12-3 last night, giving the D.C. team a 2-0 series lead.