MLB: UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley returning to Yankee Stadium to throw out first pitch

UConn coach Dan Hurley (15) chats with Yankees manager Aaron Boone before first-pitch ceremonies at Yankee Stadium in July 2023. Hurley, as back to back national champ, will return to Yankee Stadium for another pitch on Saturday. (Dom Amore/Hartford Courant)

UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley will return to Yankee Stadium to throw out the first pitch before the Yankees-Red Sox game on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Hurley, a lefty, delivered the first pitch before a game on July 23, 2023, to celebrate his first men’s basketball title. That day, he was presented with a signed jersey by Royals Hall of Famer George Brett; Hurley became a big fan of Brett after his famous tirade in the “pine tar game” in 1983. The Yankees were playing the Royals on the 40th anniversary of that game.

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Characteristically, Hurley has been comically critical of his performance, though he threw from the top of the mound and didn’t bounce it, and he has been promising to throw a strike with more on it this time, as he celebrates his second consecutive championship.

Statistical quirk? The Huskies appeared at Fenway Park for a Yankees-Red Sox game on June 15. On that day, the Yankees were 50-22 and threatening to run away with the AL East. They have lost 13 of 17 games since Alex Karaban threw the first pitch. The Red Sox, meanwhile, were 35-35 on June 15 and are 12-4 since.

Maybe the Yankees could use a fiery pregame talk from Hurley.

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