Tampa Bay Rays pitcher latest athlete to toss their cookies

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A Tampa Bay Rays player took his job as a hurler a bit too literally.

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Reliever Jonathan Heasley, who was making his Rays debut and his first MLB appearance since 2024, threw up on the mound Wednesday during an 11-2 loss to the host Baltimore Orioles, one of his former teams.

The incident happened during the bottom of the fifth inning as he faced his first batter – Orioles designated hitter Coby Mayo, who ended up hitting a single after the delay.

“Oh, not feeling so hot out on the hill,” one of the Rays broadcasters said in a video clip posted on social media.

“You could tell he was feeling some discomfort after the first few pitches to Coby Mayo.”

Not the first time it has happened

Oddly enough, this is not the first time something similar had happened to the former Kansas City Royal.

One of the Rays broadcasters said Heasley had a similar incident with the International League’s Durham Bulls, the Rays’ triple-A affiliate. He also reportedly told them that he had thrown up “regularly” when he played high school football.

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“He said he just has a weak stomach,” Rays sideline reporter Ryan Bass said. “It sometimes happens when his nerves kick up a little bit.”

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Heasley reportedly even warned reporters that it happens due to a “combination of adrenalin, nerves and a weak stomach.

“So if it does happen, don’t be alarmed, I’m all right,” he told reporters, via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

He is not the only athlete with a history of tossing their cookies in the heat of competition.

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Let’s throw out some more examples

Baseball has many bizarre stories from hungover players puking before games to Los Angeles Dodgers legend Sandy Koufax’s use of “atomic balm” – a toxic salve containing chili peppers – to ease the pain in his ailing elbow.

According to Jane Leavy’s biography on Koufax, Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy, teammate Lou Johnson once came in contact with the potent mixture when he borrowed the Hall of Famer’s jersey on a cold night in Pittsburgh.

“First he began to sweat,” she wrote of Johnson, via ESPN. “Then his skin blistered. Then he threw up.”

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, meanwhile, told reporters last year that he “basically” vomits before or during every game after cameras spotted him talking to Ralph on the sidelines during a game against the New England Patriots.

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Then there was the infamous vomit-ball incident in 2024, when Green Bay Packers centre Josh Myers lost his lunch at the line of scrimmage, much to the dismay of quarterback Malik Willis.

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Of course, there was also the Michael Jordan “flu game” during the 1997 NBA Finals, when the Chicago Bulls star reportedly spent the pre-game vomiting before dropping 38 points on the Utah Jazz to take a commanding 3-2 lead in the series.

So chin up, Mr. Heasley.

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