James Corden mastered the bat flip before taking batting practice with the Angels

James Corden is a British comedian with his own late night television program, so suffice it to say that hitting Joe Theismann in the face with a chili cheeseburger is the beginning and end of his experience with American athletics. Hitting a baseball was going to be no easy task.

The host of "The Late Late Show" on CBS recently worked under the tutelage of former Angels All-Star infielder Bobby Grich and current Angels hitting coach Mike Ashman to prepare for a big batting practice session at Angels Stadium. Though, they mostly just worked on the fundamentals, like spitting and bat flips. For his part, Corden was optimistic about his chances.

After all that practice, Corden's hands were hurting him when his big night rolled around, so he taped 'em up real good before taking some cuts in the cage to warm up for the big event - a simulated at-bat. His appearance resulted in a strikeout, though he did connect on a bonus pitch he demanded after contesting the first two strike calls.

Though Corden had been working on his swing, he clearly didn't spend too much time perfecting his slide -- the host came in just a little hot when stretching that blast into a triple.