ICYMI: Hollywood star Tom Hanks throws the ceremonial first pitch for the Cleveland Guardians, accompanied by 'Wilson'

The Cleveland Guardians opened their season at home with some very special guests present.

Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, along with his old friend 'Wilson', who co-starred with him in the 1990 hit film 'Cast Away', were on the mound Friday night. The Guardians faced the San Francisco Giants in the season-opener.

Hanks, a self-confessed Guardians fan since the 1970s, threw the pitch to Larry Doby Jr., who is the son of Larry Doby Sr., the first African-American player in the American League.

It was a fun affair as Hanks brought Wilson —a volleyball— to the mound. He then proceeded to place Wilson on the ground and the remote-controlled volleyball rolled around the grass as Hanks attempted to throw his first pitch. The baseball was then caught by Doby Jr., himself an actor.

The 65-year-old then joined the Cleveland Guardians' broadcast team to discuss his love for his adopted home team. He stated that he had attended games in the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium during the late 70s when he was still an intern at the Great Lakes Theater Festival.

Hanks is no stranger to baseball as he starred in a baseball film of his own - the 1992 classic, 'A League of Their Own'.

The film garnered critical and commercial acclaim. In 2012, it was chosen for preservation in the United States Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The Cleveland Guardians unfortunately lost to the red-hot San Francisco Giants, who were carrying a three-game win streak prior to this game, with a score of 6-4. Cleveland fell to 4-4 while San Francisco is now at 6-2.

Cleveland Guardians' 2022 season so far

Jose Ramirez is doing the heavy-lifting for the Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians currently sit at 4-4 in the standings. They are second in the American League Central as Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins have losing records at the time of writing.

Looking at the current team's batting and pitching metrics, it would seem like the Guardians are smoking hot. They feature in the top three of the league across most batting stats and are in the upper half on pitching stats also.

This, however, can be a bit misleading as the first two series of the season for the Guardians were against rebuilding teams. They outscored the Kansas City Royals in their season-opening series 28-14 while drawing the four-game series with two wins apiece.

They then traveled to Cincinnati to face the Reds in a two-game series in which they won both the matches with a combined scoreline of 17-8.

At the time of writing, they are facing off against the National League powerhouse San Francisco Giants in a three-game series for their home opener. They've dropped their first two games against the Giants and are looking forward to getting, at least, a win before the series concludes.