Moldy Peaches

ahh... check that Vin Scully, I believe that is an African elephant making its way from the bullpen. The West Michigan Whitecaps baseball team made history on the weekend when they had an elephant throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Not only was Friday's pitch thrown by an elephant, but the ball went straight to catcher Chris Robinson's mitt. Fans and players cheered the 9-foot (2.7-meter)-tall, four-ton African elephant named Laura after she flipped the ball high and wide.

Laura, no stranger to attention, having once shared the silver screen with Jim Carrey in "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls." She and her owner, W.C. Walters of Ivory Haven Farms in Newaygo, also make frequent appearances across the state.

Whitecaps right-hander Andrew Kown said the team's pitching staff could learn from the animal. "I couldn't believe how far and how hard she throws it," Kown said before the Whitecaps lost to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4-1. "If an elephant can (throw a strike), we should be able to do it."

The doctor obvious quote of the year goes to Robinson who felt the need to state to the Grand Rapid press-"I've never caught an elephant before and she actually had pretty good life on her fastball. It tailed a little bit.