Spit On That Thang!
'Hawk Tuah' Girl Throws Opening Pitch At Citi Field. I Get Flooded With DMs.
Okay, a primer:
I’m a New York Mets fan. I am (technically) an entertainer. Hailey Welch, aka the “Hawk Tuah” girl is riding a viral fame that also has come with its own backlash. And on Thursday, August 15th, (on a game that led to an eventual loss for the Mets) Ms. Welch threw out the first pitch. Don’t remember the Hawk Tuah Girl? Here you go:
And so when this happened, my DMs were flooded with people who are like “Thoughts, bro?” It kind of makes sense on a bunch of levels. The Mets have been a historically frustrating franchise to watch. The team’s failures, sometimes known as “lolMets” have been well documented, and everyone loves to see a big bad New York Franchise fail, as long as its not the Yankees. Ms. Welch, as quickly as she has become a viral figure, has experienced a backlash I haven’t seen in quite a while. And my inner circle knows I’ve been struggling in my career for close to TWENTY YEARS looking for my day in the sun. I should be mad. I should be annoyed. I should pound my fists and have a ‘think piece’ about the ol’ ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ and say things like “Why should THIS girl” get attention?” Well let me tell you something, I’m not going to. I’ll tell you why, but first this (Source MLB.com)
The fact Ms. Welch did the opening for the New York Mets is kind of irrelevant. You’d argue that a “self-respecting” franchise WOULD NEVER hire someone like her to throw a pitch, but you’d be wrong. Opening pitches haven’t been sacred for years. Yes ever so often a community leader, a hero, someone on an opening pitch challenge, or an important member of the team gets to do one, but an opening pitch is DESIGNED to be a publicity stunt.
And it’s a Thursday Day Game in August. If there was any time to throw in the most talked about American who is NOT running for President or an Olympian, it’s a game like today.
Then it’s the “evolution of going viral.” There was a time when a “regular person” would come into the limelight, we’d enjoy their vibe, and when things got boring, we’d move on to somebody else. Those days are long gone. Now the cycle is something like: we laugh, we make memes, we are tired of memes, we interpret that as being sick of somebody, we hold contempt for them, and then we boo them off stage. Trust me, I’m not defending Ms. Welch’s meteoric rise, but it seems EVERYONE has chosen THIS viral star to use as an example about ‘hOw bAD cElEbRiTy cUltUre’ is. Over the past 2 years we’ve seen Turkish gunmen, Australian break-dancers, and hell, a COCKROACH go viral:
Look, the content machine is fast and it needs to be fed. People will just rise to the top if you give them the right opportunity. This leads me my final point.
As someone in the broadcasting, comedy, and the arts life as a whole, I’ve seen first-hand how Ms. Welch has made my colleague’s blood boil. “How can she get all of these opportunities where I am here grinding?” This is what I read when I’m scrolling social media. It’s a funny thing because I know dozens of writers, artists, comedians, dancers, presenters, and athletes. You know who I don’t know? People in the Hawk Tuah business. Like, what are those people even jealous of?
I don’t like tooting my own horn, but I left home to get into the entertainment industry about 17 years ago. Though I have experience doing everything from script supervising to creating whole intellectual properties, and from performing stand-up specials to sports journalism, I am still considered a nobody. Sure, you can Google my name, but I’m out here on the starving artist track. It’s a different feeling having to ask family members for help after they told you that you wouldn’t make it. It sucks when you think you finally got your big break only to be let go the year after. You know what I’m not doing? Getting mad at somebody who got a little exposure for something they’ve done. Ms. Welch isn’t out here pretending to be a scientist or an actual baseball player. She said a joke, people liked it and she’s going where she’s invited. And trust me, any self-aware person knows that this kind of fame never lasts forever.
So I ask you. If someone invited you to do cool stuff because you exist, would you turn that down? Would you say, “Well, there are a LOT of people who aren’t happy with their lives and careers, I better stay home?” Or do you say, “Hey in 3-12 months, people are going to move on to the next thing, let me take a trip to New York and throw a baseball that doesn’t EVEN COUNT?”
That said, if the Mets need someone else for future games, let me know!
-F