Jimmy Fallon: "Sport Eludes Me"  4/5/05

Jimmy Fallon credits his stint on Saturday Night Live with giving him the credentials to play a baseball fan in new movie Fever Pitch - because in reality he knows nothing about the sport.

The comic actor played Boston Red Sox fanatic Sully on the legendary TV series for six years, which helped convince Fever Pitch producer and star Drew Barrymore that Fallon would be ideal for the lead role.

However, Fallon admits his onset bat-swinging skills have been blasted by baseball enthusiasts.

He says, "Maybe SNL made it easier for Boston people to swallow the Fever Pitch character. Ben (Affleck) or MATT (Damon) would have been too obvious.

"When we were shooting at Fenway Park, some people would shout at me, 'You're retarded.' But I don't do a Boston accent in the film."