Hi. This is uh, David Smith, senior. And he is the humannnn … home run. Or the human cannonball. /awkward smile
69-year old “Cannonball” Smith turning himself into a human home run between games of a doubleheader between the Connecticut Tigers and Lowell Spinners on Tuesday, making him the first old man to fly over a minor league fence since the Norfolk Tides manager Gary Allenson went climbing out of spite last month. Smith’s trip was much more dignified, which is funny when you consider he was dressed like an American flag and being shot out of a cannon.
I miss the good old days when you had to actually do something ridiculous like this as a trade if you wanted to be famous for doing something dumb. The very best part of this story isn’t a senior citizen flying to his death on some rural hill, it’s the reverse angle video (after the jump) where you find out he preps for flight with Rick Derringer’s (and more important, Hulk Hogan’s) “Real American”. I’m glad he’s using it, too, because being a human home run is way more American than bodyslamming a fat guy from France.
https://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1570028818
“Cannonball” Smith Sr. and son (guess his son’s name) are old pros at the Hurling Yourself Into/Over Things game, having once pulled off the stunt at PETCO Park, but believe it or not there are still problems to consider before shooting yourself into some woods with a gigantic gun.
He was asked if LeLacheur Park presented any particular logistical problems. If he overshot the net, he could have plunged into the Merrimack River, which flows past the ballpark.
“I checked that out before I signed up for this date,” he said with a chuckle.
[h/t and videos courtesy of Big League Stew]
