Lucas Giolito wasn't too nervous about facing off against his former high school teammate Tuesday night.
He was a little nervous about hitting a chicken.
The Chicago White Sox ace had the unusual task of warming up for one of the six innings of work he turned in during a South Side victory while some poultry-related shenanigans took place behind home plate.
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At the request of Joe West, the legendary umpire who broke baseball's all-time games-umpired record Tuesday, the famed San Diego Chicken was on hand at Guaranteed Rate Field. And there were some classic mascot-umpire antics, with the two participating in a little skit of sorts, The Chicken presenting West with a bouquet of flowers only to mildly prank him before giving him several hugs.
All the while, Giolito was firing warmup tosses, concerned what might have happened had one gone awry.
"They opened up the back gate and I see The Chicken walking out, I'm like 'Oh man, please do not overthrow one or bounce a slider here in my warmups,'" Giolito said. "I know they had to do the whole thing.
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"They were doing that whole thing pretty close. But I was able to keep it around the strike zone in the warmups there and stay locked in on what I needed to do.
"When he was walking through the back tunnel, and there were other people there, too, for a couple pitches, I'm like, 'All right, keep it there.'"
Fortunately for Giolito, all his pitches hit the mitt.
Unfortunately for the internet, none of his pitches hit The Chicken.
On a night when Giolito experienced the rare opportunity to pitch against one of his childhood friends in the big leagues, he experienced the even rarer opportunity to try not to drill a man in a chicken costume
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