At Tonight's All-Star Game: A President In Pinstripes?
The All-Star game is baseball's celebration of transcendent talent and league loyalty. For one game a year, fierce rivals suit up on the same team, and the fans get to root for the best players in the sport, not just their hometown stars. But tonight at the 2009 All-Star game in St. Louis, Barack Obama will take the mound to hurl the first ceremonial pitch with no plans for hiding his personal team loyalty. According to a White House source, the president will once again suit up in the gear of his hometown Chicago White Sox. (Not clear if this will just be a cap, or a cap and jacket or jersey, or the far more unlikely stirrup socks and cleats.)
U.S. Presidents have been throwing out first pitches at baseball games since William Howard Taft at Griffith Stadium in 1910. And for decades, they have been showing up at games in the garb of their favored teams. Ronald Reagan wore a Chicago Cubs jacket. Bill Clinton donned the orange bird of Baltimore. George W. Bush went National in the nation's capital. But the best I can tell, today will be the first time that a U.S. president has ever played a favoring fan at an All-Star Game.
For those keeping score at home, three four presidents have previously tossed the first ball at an All-Star Game. [UPDATE: I initially wiped from history Gerald Ford's 1976 appearance, in coat and tie, at the All Star Game in Philidelphia.] Franklin Roosevelt in 1937. (He wore a white double-breasted suit and hat.) Richard Nixon in 1970. (He wore a dark grey suit in Cincinnati.) And George H.W. Bush in 1992, where he attended with Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari in San Diego. (I can't find a picture online of this momentous slice of history, but the news coverage at the time made no mention of his attire, and the fact of the election year would have made taking sides less likely.)
As for Obama, he is known to have worn baseball gear on at least two occasions: in 2005, when he tossed before Game 2 of the AL Championship series, dressed as a White Sox billboard--Sox hat and pinstripe "Obama" jersey, and as a toddler, when he was, the photographic evidence suggests, a fan of the University of Hawaii.
One other note: there is a reason beyond fashion that presidents stopped wearing suit coats or blazers for first tosses. The Secret Service has encouraged the first men for decades to wear bullet-proof vests on the mound, making the looser jersey's and warm-up jackets a preferable attire. Richard Ben Cramer, in his book What It Takes, famously documented one blue-blazer/bullet-proof vest disaster, the 1986 first pitch by George H.W. Bush during game one of the 1986 NL Championship. To wit:
This is it: the moment, the glorious nexus. Poppy is winding up--well, sort of. He can't really get his arms above his head, so they end up together in front of his face, and he sort of swivels to his left, and his left arm flies back--but it won't go back, so he gets it back even with his shoulder, and starts forward, while his right lace-up feels for the dirt on the downslope, and he can tell it's short while the throw is still in his hand, and he is trying to get that little extra with his hand, which ends up, fingers splayed, almost waving, as he lands on his right foot, and lists to his left, toward the first-base line, with the vent of his blazer aflap to show his gray flannel backside, with his eyes still following the feckless parabola of his toss, which is not gonna . . . oh, God! . . . not gonna even make the dirt in front of the plate, but bounce off the turf, one dying hop to the . . . oh, God!
For his part, Obama said this morning that he has been practicing his throw, though he was vague about the specifics. "I think it's fair to say that I wanted to loosen up my arm a little bit," the president said in the Oval Office, after a meeting with Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands. "You know, my general strategy the last time I threw a pitch was at the American League Championship Series and I just wanted to keep it high. Now, there was no clock on it, I don't know how fast it went -- but if it exceeded 30 miles per hour, I'd be surprised. But it did clear the plate." He can only hope to do it again.
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1
Can't wait for your equally colorful update. Let's just hope that the actual game is equally entertaining.
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2
I forgive Obama for being a Sox fan. After all, if he'd been a Cub fan, he'd have probably never made it past his Senate run.
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3
Michael, will you be at the game? If yes, can you bring back a program and give us fun facts from it? Thanks.
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4
I've always wondered about Presidents doing stuff like this. What if the President isn't an athlete? Or hates baseball? I just can't throw to save his life? I just doesn't want to do it?
Feeling like I have to do something shmaltzy just because every other President since William Howard Taft has would piss me off.-
4.1
Good questions. For example, did Senator Hillary Clinton ever throw a first pitch? How about Senator Diane Feinstein?
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4.2
see, for example, Obama bowling. 32. He grinned. He bore it.
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4.3
bethnva, or McCain? Or FDR?
It's a relatively minor issue, but it's insane to continue these pointless sports traditions. People who just don't like sports - who are more likely to be women, although HRC could probably throw an adequate pitch since she played as a child - and people who can't play are disadvantaged. They look less "presidential." And given how incredibly demanding the job of the President is, especially now, it's ridiculous to add these absurd criteria.
Although it's not as bad as the bias against ugly people... It is perfectly possible that the person best qualified to be President could be an ugly 45 year-old mom who hates sports and/or is disabled. And they would have absolutely no chance of ending up in the WH.
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5
What this tells me is that President Obama believes that the fact he is a White Sox fan will not effect is poll numbers. He gives the people enough credit to realize that they can separate sports from policy.
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6
It's refreshing for Obama to be up front about his sports opinions. Instead of falling back on the typical "both good teams" balderdash he has – and expresses – actual preferences. From picking the Heels in the Final four, to maintaining his Soxhood, to opining that Jordan was better than Kobe, he's not afraid to let people know what he thinks.
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6.1
Not to be a buzzkill, but if he'd only now do the right thing and release the torture pictures, drop the spying on Americans, and bring Bush & Co. to justice for war crimes. Among other things.
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6.2
You should have heard Obama's remarks about Detroit Mayor and former NBA All-Star Dave Bing today at Macomb Community College here in Michigan...Not much coverage of the speech, 'tho...not suprised, considering the venue and non-earth shattering nature of the announcement of the goal for the US to lead the world again in degreed citizens.
Obama shook so many hands today after the speech, I'm suprised he could still lift his arm enough to throw a baseball...and the guy's smile on teevee is a shadow of what you see in person.
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6.3
Yep, pretty much buzzkill.
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7
It's actually a good thing that he's a White Sox fan - imagine if he supported a good team; there'd be wild-eyed, infuriated commentary by opposing fans any time he did something like this.
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8
Re: Obama. My guess is a slider on the inside corner. Any takers?
Re: GHWB. The description of his attempted pitch is nearly as cringe-inducing as watching the video. The sad part for 41 was that he was a decent 1st baseman at Yale. I'd hate to have to watch Obama try to do a 3-pointer with the Secret Service telling him to wear a bulletproof parka. Gads!
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9
Do we see a post-ASG bump for Obama?
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10
Is it just me or does the crowd resemble a Mac-Pal rally? "Real America's" game?
Nothing like baseball at 9 in the morning, well, except being self-employed and just saying, ah, what the hell...
BTW, that Obama toss was some weak sh!t
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10.1
I'll have to take your word for it JC-san. The FOX coverage of his opening pitch was pretty pathetic, all my co-workers noticed we didn't even get to see the end of it.
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10.2
No kidding Yuts? He looked good doing it, the hyakumandoru smile etc. but the pitch, yowakattan.
You back from WY already?
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10.3
Actually I want this whole dang camera crew fired, they've been jerking like crazy all over the place. I thought NHL was bad enough sheesh!
Wyoming actually got put on hold. I had a couple of family things come up that forced me to reschedule that trip. It has been one of those blessings in disguise however, I'm here able to make sure my brother (who just had knee surgery) doesn't do anything too stupid while wandering around being an unemployed bum.
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11
[...] politics (Missouri voted for McCain last November) or his choice of attire (he chose to wear a long-sleeved White Sox jacket in support of his favorite team and a pair of regular blue jeans) was [...]
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12
[...] politics (Missouri voted for John McCain last November) or his choice of attire (he chose to wear a long-sleeved White Sox jacket in support of his favorite team and a pair of regular old blue jeans) was [...]
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13
Obama throws like a girl! Time magazine, please post that video. Even as a member of the pro-America community, I'm embarrassed for that feminized pansy. Women like Biden or Pelosi probably look better throwing a baseball than Obama does. For sports, he should stick with his chain smoking of cigarettes.
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13.1
Which girl? Monica Abbott? Cat Osterman? Jennie Finch?
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14
[...] politics (Missouri voted for John McCain last November) or his choice of attire (he chose to wear a long-sleeved White Sox jacket in support of his favorite team and a pair of regular old blue jeans) was [...]
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15
[...] Swampland: He had been practicing to throw like that? You are kidding! Share This [...]
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16
special thanks to Fox for not having a single camera angle so the audience could see if Obama threw a strike (or not).
one other observation - did anyone else notice the look on the face of the guy driving the cadillac golf cart carrying Stan Musial. He looked physically sick having to be around Prez Obama.
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16.1
I DID see him, Charlie. Talk about a dis!!!
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17
I like beautiful blogs!
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18
Leave it to Textee and like minded idjits to focus on positively irrelevant aspects of being a president!
The outrage!
Textee:
Did you know that if you keep going like this, getting upset at every little thing, you'll either get a heart attack or wind up in the news as yet another one of the those right wing crib-cases Napolitano was talking about?Maybe you should loosen up a bit and enjoy life! The ASG is all about America's Pastime!
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18.1
Textee is right.
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18.2
Well, hells bells then! Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes! By all means, go for the outrage...
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19
Pujols had to squat over home plate and scoop the ball out of the dirt. Obama throws like a girl. George W. Bush threw a strike in a flak jacket at the 2001 World Series.
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19.1
At least you're not having a heart attack over it...
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20
When talking about his being a White Sox fan, Obama mentioned "Cominskey Field". Any White Sox fan, any BASEBALL fan knows it's Comiskey Park. He's a White Sox fan like John Kerry was a Red Sox fan. When asked who his favorite Red Sox player was, Kerry said "Eddie Yost". Yost never played for the Red Sox.
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20.1
The faux outrage is astounding. Seriously dude, Grandpa lost, get over it.
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20.2
DUDE, Yost was a coach with the BoSox. Does that count?
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21
First of all, DUDE, I'm not a dude. I didn't like McCain either, believe me I held my nose when I voted for the lesser of two evils. What I don't like is a phony.
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21.1
He's a phony because he can't throw a pitch? Okayyyyy....I can haz betr trollz plz?
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22
He's a phony because he doesn't know the name of the ballpark where his favorite baseball team plays. Doesn't that tell you anything? And deconstructiva, no, the coach doesn't count. Kerry couldn't have named a Red Sox player if it had meant the firing squad. He also referred to Lambeau Field as "Lambert Field", and commented on the fine Ohio State football team to an audience in Michigan. My point is this, these politicians shouldn't try to be something they're not.
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22.1
Well hell!
You must really, really be digging deep for something to hang Obama with!
I mean, yuts and decon are right! Wake up and smell the coffee! This is the All Star Game! Have fun!
Eat a hot dog! Yell at the umpires*! Tell them they're corrupt and can't see worth a damn! Tell number 16 he can cool off your house, the way he just fanned!
*Yes, you can even yell "Kill him! Kill him!" if you want!
In other words, 03redcorvette, get a life!
Before you get a heart attack, or wind up as another statistic confirming what Napolitano said...
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23
[...] At Tonight’s All-Star Game: A President In Pinstripes? The All-Star game is baseball’s celebration of transcendent talent and league loyalty. For one game a year, [...] [...]
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