¡°Bad Boys¡± Will Smith and Martin Lawrence take over loanDepot park before premiere
Ahead of the Marlins matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays on June 5, actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence held a special pre-game takeover of loanDepot park. Before heading to the premiere of their new movie ¡°Bad Boys: Ride or Die,¡± Smith and Lawrence took photos on the field with a group of randomly selected fans, met with Marlins players, and engaged with fans in the stands.
Marlins outfielders Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Nick Gordon presented Smith and Lawrence with custom Marlins jerseys featuring their ¡°Bad Boys¡± character names "Lowrey" and "Burnett" on the back.
¡°It was cool seeing their energy even when they were off the stage,¡± said Chisholm Jr. ¡°It was a sick experience.¡±
After beating Smith in a game of rock, paper, scissors out on the pitcher¡¯s mound, Lawrence threw out the first pitch to Gordon.
What Gordon didn¡¯t realize at the time was that Lawrence had thrown a first pitch to his half-brother Dee Strange-Gordon nearly 10 years ago when he was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both Gordon and Chisholm Jr. were in disbelief upon finding this out after the fact.
¡°I swear I didn¡¯t know that,¡± said Nick. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s wild. Martin made history, huh?¡±
Even without this full-circle moment, it was a surreal experience for Gordon.
¡°I¡¯ve been watching their movies since we were kids, so it was pretty dope,¡± he said.
This was a common feeling shared throughout the Marlins clubhouse following the takeover.
¡°I had a lot of family and friends telling me to make sure that I meet them,¡± said Marlins outfielder Dane Myers. ¡°They all knew I grew up watching Martin and watching Will in ¡®Fresh Prince,¡¯ so meeting them was pretty cool.¡±
As Myers took the advice from his family and friends, Marlins pitcher Andrew Nardi was on a different mission involving the special guests: get his glove signed by Smith and Lawrence.
¡°I don¡¯t use the glove ever, so I thought I might as well get two super famous people like them to sign it,¡± said Nardi. ¡°It actually started last year when [UFC fighter] Israel Adesanya came, and I got my glove signed by him. I just started to think that every time a famous person comes, I¡¯m going to try to get my glove signed by them.¡±
After helping Nardi accomplish his goal and energizing the crowd before the game, Smith and Lawrence departed the ballpark for their premiere in downtown Miami.
¡°This just shows how much stardom we have in Miami on and off the field,¡± said Chisholm Jr. ¡°It¡¯s everywhere we go.¡±