New York Yankees Surprise Clarke Schmidt With Dad's Ceremonial First Pitch

Wholesome moment alert -- New York Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt was tasked with catching the ceremonial first pitch ahead of Thursday's game ... and as it turns out, he knew the honorary hurler VERY well!!

According to the broadcast, the team kept its plans for the toss under wraps right until the throw. While he was shaking hands with some active-duty servicemen, they moved to reveal his dad, Dwight, was in town.

Clarke had a huge smile on his face as the two embraced ... and then Dwight hit the mound with the rest of the Marines on the field to handle business. While Dwight's throw was out of the strike zone, we'll cut Dad some slack here.

It was all a part of Fleet Week in NYC ... which kicked off on Wednesday. Dwight, who holds the rank of Colonel in the Marines and was deployed twice to Afghanistan, now flies charter flights for Delta ... and has even jetted the Yanks around in the past.

The broadcast went on to say Clarke credits his pops for his mental toughness.