Why David Letterman once thought he would go to prison: Watch

Foul ball, indeed! David Letterman admitted that he once worried he might go to prison after he accidentally threw a baseball out of a 14th story window in New York City.

“Honest to God, it was the worst day of my television life and maybe the worst day of my life,” the former Late Night With David Letterman talk show host, 71, prefaced his story to Ellen DeGenereswhile appearing onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday, March 21.

The one-time weatherman explained that he had been throwing baseballs with his producer Mary when one got away from him. “It went up and over and through the window. Of the 14th floor. Of the 30 Rock building.” he said. “And down below was Sixth Avenue … and the sidewalk. …. Well… you know … How many are dead?” he worried.

Letterman continued: “I’m stunned, and so I go over to where the window is and I’m just kind of hiding and looking down there, and there wasn’t really any commotion to speak of…”

“People were looking up,” Mary, who now works for Ellen, 61, corrected.

“People were looking up because shards of glass had rained down on the Avenue of the Americas,” the Indiana native conceded. “And I see a guy down there, and I can hear him say, ‘Hey, look, there’s Dave Letterman!’”

The comedian confessed that he feared mishap might end with him behind bars. “I thought, ‘Oh. I’m spending the rest of my life in prison,” he recalled.

In fact, the My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman star was so scared, he sent an intern down to assess the damage.

Letterman’s team also had the building’s windows covered with a special glass to avoid future incidents. “The stuff you see at hockey games. It’s bulletproof,” he said. “Problem solved.”