When Josh Beckett's ex-flame Danielle Peck's unannounced arrival at ALCS G5 threw the former pitcher a curveball 

In October 2007, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett was caught off guard when Danielle Peck, his ex-girlfriend and a country music artist, unexpectedly showed up at an ALCS Game, causing him to be put in an awkward situation.

Josh and Danielle dated in the summer of 2006.

According to reports, because singer-songwriter Taylor Swift was unable to perform the National Anthem as originally scheduled for the 2007 ALCS Game 5, the Cleveland Guardians decided to invite Danielle Peck instead.

When Beckett found out that Peck was likely to perform at the MLB game, he became anxious because his current girlfriend would be in the stands.

"My buddy, Jason, called me and said, ‘Hey, man, I just want to give you a head’s up.’ Quite frankly, at that point in time, my anxiety was so crazy,” Beckett said, recalling the incident. “I just got anxiety until the first pitch.

"That’s what people ask, am I nervous? I don’t think it’s nerves. I think it’s just anxiety because you don’t know how you’re going to feel. You don’t know how you’re going to do. You don’t even know if you do good, if you are actually doing well. There are so many things out of your control. So, my anxiety was already through the roof."

He added:

“I wasn’t worried about seeing Danielle Peck. We didn’t make a big deal of that at all. The only thing I was worried about was that my girlfriend was there. My ex-girlfriend was singing the National Anthem."

Despite all the anxiety, Josh Beckett pitched one of the most iconic MLB games of his career and led the Red Sox to a 7-1 win to punch the ticket to the World Series.

Next, the Red Sox achieved a clean sweep against the Colorado Rockies, securing their seventh title.

Cleveland Guardians were not aware of Josh Beckett's affair with Danielle Peck

ALCS: Boston Red Sox v Cleveland Indians - Game 5: CLEVELAND - OCTOBER 18: Country music artist Danielle Peck performs the National Anthem before Game Five of the American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox at Jacobs Field on October 18, 2007, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images)

According to the Cleveland Guardians' management, they were unaware of Josh Beckett's previous relationship with Danielle Peck and dismissed it as a mere "coincidence."

The organization mentioned that Danielle was suggested to them by a promoter who also represented Taylor Swift. Plus, a member of the team's marketing department added that, when they found out Taylor would be unable to present at the event, they roped in Peck.

“She’s from Ohio, and she and her family are all big Indians fans,” the team explained. “She’s also familiar with Jacobs Field because she sang here at the Red Cross gala back on Aug. 18.”

According to Audacy, Josh Beckett reached out to Peck via text message two days after the 2007 ALCS Game 5 to check on her and see how she was doing.