Howard Stern both loves and hates when his staffers act like idiots. While the radio legend has always been the star of his show, his gaggle of depraved, nerdy, and downright strange staffers are nearly as beloved by the millions of Stern Show fans. Every time a staffer acts inappropriately or makes some sort of faux-pas, it's radio gold. Most of the time their antics are dissected and ridiculed by the other well-paid staffers and by Howard and his long-time cohost, Robin Quivers.
But usually, when a staff member messes up it's within the context of the show or the life outside of the show. Rarely is it on a stage that the entire country can see. Meaning, people who either don't listen to Howard or deeply dislike him get to see someone who represents his organization mess up. And this is precisely what happened with Howard's loyal producer, Gary "Ba Ba Booey" Dell'Abate when he threw a pitch at a New York Mets game. The pitch is infamous on The Howard Stern Show and has gone down as one of the worst celebrity first-pitches in Major League Baseball history... Seriously... it was THAT bad... Here's the truth about this moment and how it affected Gary, Howard, and the Stern Show forever...
Howard Knew It Wouldn't Go Well And Gary Did It Anyway
Gary Dell'Abate has never lived down his infamous Met game first pitch. Why? Because the man just couldn't throw a ball under pressure. Not only did he miss his target, but the ball also flew off up and way to the right. It was a total embarrassment and millions of people at home and in the stadium saw it all happen in real-time. For Gary, a massive sports fan, it was a huge honor to be asked to throw the ceremonial first pitch at a Mets game. And it also brought a lot of positive attention to The Howard Stern Show in 2009... or, it did before the ball left Gary's hand.
"I'm sitting in my house Saturday evening and my mom called me," Howard explained to Robin and his live radio audience in 2009 before saying that his mom put his father on the phone which almost never happens. "I know it was big [because he never speaks to me]. He goes, "Look, I was watching television and I turned on the Met game and they mentioned your name.' And I go, 'Oh, oh right, Gary threw out the first pitch.'"
By this time, Robin and all of the on-air staff members started laughing, especially Howard's ex-co-host, Artie Lange, who relentlessly teased Gary about his bad the pitch was.
"[My dad] goes, 'I never saw a pitch so horrible. I never thought they would show a picture on TV like this. I tuned by and they're talking about Howard Stern's producer throwing the first pitch.' He says, 'You never saw a ball!'"
Howard's dad was the least of Gary's concern because pretty soon he was the laughing stock of the staff, the audience, and practically every baseball fan in the country. To make matters worse, this was precisely what Gary was fearing and Howard knew it. Before accepting the offer from the Mets, Howard claims that he told Gary that he shouldn't do it. Why Howard loves an opportunity to tease his producer on-air, he knew that if Gary messed up the pitch he would never live it down... And Howard was right.
"It was a double f***-up because Gary threw the ball incredibly soft and it was nowhere near the f***ing catcher," Artie laughed on air in 2009. "The umpire had to catch it!"
In the days that followed the pitch, Artie was the most brutal to Gary on air, actually causing some major drama behind the scenes. However, the audience absolutely adored it so Howard and Robin were fine to stoke the fire a bit. But the tormenting wasn't contained to The Howard Stern Show. Publications all over the U.S. called out Gary's pitch as "the worst in MLB history". After one single moment, Gary was made a laughing stock of the entire country.
But instead of letting the moment slip away into obscurity after a year, Gary went on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to redeem himself by throwing another ball... which ended up hitting an audience member in the head. Perhaps it was this moment that gave Howard, his crew, and the audience the encouragement to bring up Gary's pitch every year since the incident.
The Moment Absolutely Torments Gary To This Day
As recently as September 2021, more than a decade after his notorious pitch, Gary's ball-throwing skills were mocked. After Conor McGregor threw out a terrible ceremonial first pitch, the sports anchor brought up Gary's and compared which was worse. It caused Gary to talk about it on The Howard Stern Wrap-Up Show and claim that he can't remember the last time he picked up a baseball. The moment still haunts him to this day.
"I'm so mentally repelled by it that I may not have thrown a baseball since that pitch," Gary said to his Wrap-Up show colleagues. "Even as you guys are talking [about it], I can feel the pressure. And I don't need that pressure in my life anymore."
Of course, this caused Howard and Robin to mention it on the main show and take a few more shots at him. Not only is this totally in line with what the Stern Show is about, but Howard knows that any reference to Gary's pitch will go over well with long-term fans. Why? Because Gary's unbelievably embarrassing moment has been the source of some of the best ongoing on-air ridicules in the show's history.
In short, Gary messing up and embarrassing himself, his boss, and his job was the biggest gift he could have given Howard Stern.