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MLB upset after Wiz Khalifa endorses marijuana at Pirates game

chris cwik
Staff writer

The Pittsburgh Pirates were reprimanded by Major League Baseball on Thursday after rapper Wiz Khalifa threw out a first pitch Wednesday night. That’s a real thing that happened in 2017, we swear.

The league is unhappy after Khalifa showed up with a shirt reading “legalize it” in green letters. To clear up any confusion about what “it” could be, Khalifa mimed smoking what the kids call a marijuana cigarette before throwing out the first pitch.

After seeing that, MLB issued a statement to Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writer Rob Biertempfel, which read:

“Marijuana is probated substance in all of our drug programs. It’s unfortunate this situation occurred. The Pirates have informed us that this should not have happened”

We assume they meant “prohibited” instead of “probated.”

Everything you just read sounds surreal, we know. But it did actually happen. There are pictures to prove it.

Wiz Khalifa earned the ire of MLB after endorsing marijuana before throwing out a first pitch. (Getty Images)
Wiz Khalifa earned the ire of MLB after endorsing marijuana before throwing out a first pitch. (Getty Images)

We have a few takes that we’ll share now.

  • Wiz Khalifa has an album named “Rolling Papers,” and is working on “Rolling Papers 2” currently, so we’re not sure what MLB expected.

  • Though marijuana is legal in some states, it is not in Pennsylvania. The state does have a medical marijuana program, however.

  • That is a hell of an outfit to wear while throwing out a first pitch at a baseball game. We’re afraid to say anything more than that on this subject

  • Marijuana is prohibited under MLB’s drug programs, but that’s somewhat misleading. Players on the major-league roster aren’t tested for marijuana. Minor leaguers can be caught and punished, but once they reach the majors, they can smoke all they want and not fear repercussions from the league.

  • As Bill Baer of Hardball Talk points out, the Milwaukee Brewers play at Miller Park. The Colorado Rockies play at Coors Field. And the St. Louis Cardinals play at Busch Stadium. Yes, beer is legal in 50 states and marijuana is not, but it does come off as a little hypocritical by MLB.

We would like to think MLB would react the same way if a person shotgunned a beer before throwing out a first pitch. That only seems reasonable, but what if that beer was a Miller or Coors product?

Again, we’d expect this reaction, but it does make you think.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik