Wizards' Wall bounces first pitch, excited to see first Nationals' game

The Washington Wizards star point guard John Wall threw out the first pitch before Friday's matchup with the Baltimore Orioles at Nationals Park. It didn't quite do what he had planned. Wall's pitch bounced twice before the Nationals closer Drew Storen made a nice play to catch it. Wall said the 56-minute rain delay allowed him to cool down too much and affected the throw. "That was my All-Star game bounce pass right there," Wall said. "I will come back out and redeem myself sometime soon." That would follow history as former Wizards' forward Caron Butler did much better on his second try after practically rolling his first attempt at RFK Stadium a few years back. The No. 1 overall selection in the 2010 NBA draft said Storen was trying to help him out, but there was no saving that attempt. "It was tough to make that one look good after it bounced first," Wall said. "It was funny because I couldn't do nothing but laugh when it hit the grass. We had just talked about it before. I had practiced in the back, but then the hour delay. A little bit of rain got to me, but it was fun just going out there." Wall said handling a basketball all day should have made throwing a baseball easier, but that was not the case. "You should be able to throw (a baseball) further," Wall said. "I tried to put too much power into it instead of just getting it there." Wall was excited to take in his first Nationals game, and it reminded him a little of when he played baseball as a kid. "I played shortstop until I was 13 or 14 years old, but then I gave it up going into high school," Wall said. Wall believes the Wizards will find a quality player when the NBA draft commences Thursday. "I want them to just draft someone to help us out," Wall said. "I think our general manager, our owner and our coaching staff are doing a good job of interviewing the people they want to and they are going to make the best decision for us to help us out next year." He said he was excited to see right-handed Kentucky pitcher Alex Meyer drafted by the Nationals and D.C. could start resembling "Kentuckyville" with himself, Redskins defensive lineman Jeremy Jarmon, Mystics forward Victoria Dunlap and Meyer drafted by the Nationals, all in Washington. "I think all the teams here are trying to rebuild and just get better year-by-year," Wall said. "I think (the Nationals) are going to be good just like we are down the road."