Prince Harry flings ceremonial 1st pitch at Mets-Twins game

On his visit to the United States, the Prince displayed his expertise in shooting when he fired with an M4 rifle at pop-up silhouette targets at a distance of 300 meters.

The Prince added another feather to his sporting cap when he chanced his arm at a New York baseball game.

Prince has a field day
Donning a white T-shirt and blue Mets cap, the third in line to Britain's throne walked out to a boisterous applause at the New York Mets' Citi Field stadium.

Prince Harry, the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, was nervous initially.

He waved halfhearted to the crowd when he stood on the top of the mound. After a small warm up that included shaking the right arm many times and a full body wiggle, he was ready to fire.

"We in Britain can learn from the American culture of charity and from the great pioneering work in the fields of care, prosthetics and rehabilitation of your universities, hospitals and other organizations. In turn, I hope we can offer some inspiring examples of our own." – Prince Harry

The 25-year-old prince threw the first pitch in the New York Mets game against the Minnesota Twins and the ball fitted right into the catcher Rod Barajas 's gloves.

The cheers from the 40,000-odd spectators present in the stadium reached the zenith.

Harry had received some advice on throwing from Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey just half an before the game. Call it match practice.

For the record, the Mets lost 6-0 to the Twins.

The real mission
The Prince, a lieutenant in the British Army, is on a three-day visit to the U.S. for an altogether separate task which has nothing to do with baseball.

His visit aims to devise a mechanism wherein British and U.S. veteran’s charities can join hands to assist wounded troops returning home.

"We in Britain can learn from the American culture of charity and from the great pioneering work in the fields of care, prosthetics and rehabilitation of your universities, hospitals and other organizations. In turn, I hope we can offer some inspiring examples of our own," said the Royal Prince.

The Prince himself runs a charity, Sentebale, that aims to support orphans and helpless children in Lesotho, an impecunious nation in Africa where average life expectancy is amongst the shortest in the world.

"With my love of children and Africa, Lesotho stood out as a country in desperate need of attention, help and commitment," the Prince said while garnering support for his charity.

During the course of the next two days Harry will walk with wounded veterans who are scheduled to take part in a road race through Central Park.

He is also scheduled to participate in the third annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, the proceeds from which will benefit the U.S. arm of Sentebale.