Rojo Johnson: Will Ferrell Video

Will Ferrell’s played some great characters over the years. But Billy Ray “Rojo” Johnson may be the best.

Will Ferrell appeared on the field in the 7th innings under the disguise of Rojo Johnson, Venezuelan pitching legend and strutted to the mound with a bag full of beer cans, wearing fake mustache and an accompanying large gold chain. Rojo threw a grand total of one pitch which was thrown five feet behind the batter and consequently resulted in his ejection from the field and the game and to add the ultimate funny twist to the whole farcical episode, the batter chased him around the field.

The news release was sent out earlier in the week, to little notice:

“The Round Rock Express have acquired Billy Ray “Rojo” Johnson… Johnson, who was born in East Texas but was raised in Venezuela, recently had his prison sentence commuted. He served time for running a smuggling ring that imported rare and illegal species of reptiles into the United States from South America during the mid-to-late 1990s.”

Video of Will Ferrell as Rojo Johnson.

Ferrell has done it again, this time signing a “contract” to pitch Thursday night for the Astros’ Triple-A Round Rock Express affiliate and being ejected after firing his only pitch behind the Nashville Sounds batter.
“Mentally, I feel like I have the strength of 10 men, after that,” Ferrell/Johnson, who ripped off his mustache during the on-field chase, told reporters in a postgame press conference.

“Nashville showed a lot of stuff tonight,” he added. “They’ve got a lot of moxie.”

Approaching the mound with a bag full of beer cans, Ferrell managed to get ejected from the game after tossing one hilariously bad pitch, then got into a melee with the batter, spraying him with beer and chasing him around the field.

Ferrell was in town to promote his Will Powered Golf Classic on Friday at Cimmaron Hills Country Club benefiting College for Cancer, a charity that provides college scholarships to cancer survivors. The tournament was held in California for the past 16 years, but moved to Texas for the 2010 addition.

While Ferrell helped a good cause and the fans seemed to enjoy the show — a season-high crowd of 10,149 attended the game after rumors of Ferrell’s appearance — the initial announcement of Johnson’s “signing” drew the ire of some Express faithful for signing a former convict.

“Some people got it right away because they knew Will Ferrell was going to be there on Thursday night,” Express CEO Reid Ryan told MLB.com. “Other people called and said they couldn’t believe we signed this guy because we’re a family business.”