It started out as a joke, that was just Mad Max being himself, so focused he didn’t realize what was going on.

But it may be much more than that.

Max Scherzer didn’t just ruin a fan throwing out the ceremonial first pitch Friday night, he got in the way of Mikio Mori, Ambassador and Consul General of Japan, doing the honors. Mori was in the city for the first Japan parade in honor of Japan Day on Saturday.

He wasn’t just slated to throw out the first pitch before the Mets-Mariners game. It was also Japanese Heritage Night on the 150th anniversary of the United States’ introduction of baseball to Japan.

Obviously, this wasn’t all Scherzer’s fault. The planning was poor. Perhaps the Mets’ 2-1 loss was karma catching up with them.