The last “first pitch” by a sitting U.S. president on Major League Baseball’s opening day was a left-handed hurl by President Barack Obama in Washington on April 5, 2010.
President Obama lightly trolled the Nationals Park faithful—whom he honored via windbreaker—from the mound when revealing his cap, supporting his boyhood-beloved Chicago White Sox.
The pre-Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, fully-in-bloom Nats weren’t must-watch TV. Social media platforms like Twitter—now “X”—had yet become “make-or-break” interweb playgrounds populated by overnight sensations “going viral” and institutions “memed” out of public favor. At some point in recent memory, instantaneous “cancellation” became the new cannon fodder.
Dominating the box-office as the number-one movie in these much simpler times? “Clash of the Titans.” Today, average moviegoers who purchased a ticket couldn’t rattle off its plot. Although, they could venture that, in this much more polarized, dog-eat-dog landscape, the title-in-question more amply describes the marquee billing for the looming bare-knuckle brawls called debates likely to take place between “The Incumbent “ and “The Donald.”
Should President Donald Trump continue to stave off criminal charges in his quest to reclaim the presidency, the indecisive voting community—fatigued or no—will at least receive the first free pay-per-view match seen between the two in four years. Sans actual boxing mitts and only with verbal bloodshed abound, it’s only in this arena where many would-be voters feel they recognize a semblance of mutually-assured vitality.
With President Trump at 77 and President Biden at 81, the proverbial knock called “old-age” is used by their unshakeable champions to discredit the other. “How can they manage the country, if they can’t even manage themselves?” responses follow just about every report indicating a modicum of compromised health in either candidate.
As football approaches its final kick-off, national pastime die-hards countdown the days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training on February 13.
Should the American public envisage a not-so-distant future wherein President Biden throws out a first pitch?
The verdict: unlikely.
President Trump and President Biden are the first sitting presidents since William Howard Taft, who served from 1909 to 1913, not to throw out the first pitch. On opening day, and in general.
Taft introduced the tradition from the Washington Senators’ National Park front-row seats in 1910, per official White House and MLB archives.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933–1945) is the most prolific first pitch-thrower, with 11. Like those who preceded him, his game-starters always took place from the stands—of great aid to FDR, as the media concealed his polio diagnosis to preserve him as a symbol of strength during a bygone era where the office of the presidency was respected like no other.
Every president from President Taft on through to President Obama has thrown out the first pitch at least once on MLB Opening Day, save for President Jimmy Carter (1977–1981). The “Peanut Farmer” was heckled all-in-good fun by the Orioles for “finally showing up” to Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium to throw out the first pitch for the decisive Game 7 of the 1979 World Series.
He became the first president to throw from the mound, with rookie Damon Berryhill set-up at consolidated distances for each. Giving “The Gipper” leeway didn’t seem to matter much with fans, as the 77-year-old was serenaded with a booming applause across the board.
The 2019 World Champion Washington Nationals tabbed Dr. Anthony Fauci—not President Trump—to throw out the first pitch in their 2020 opener against the Yankees to commence the COVID-shortened season on July 23.
President Trump immediately took to the White House Press briefing room to claim “good friend of his” Yankees President Randy Levine asked him to throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium at their home opener on August 15.
A former catcher who played in the Yankees organization decades ago suggests Dr. Fauci’s poorly-received “bouncer” explains why President Trump and President Biden have abstained from a tradition-rendered-no-more.
What scenario, then, is feared more: the boos upon emergence to the field of play, or rather those heard when vacating a mound all naysayers now consider effectively desecrated by your first-pitch-gone wild?
Survey says: “a mixture of both.” In this day-and-age, risk typically trumps reward, in the intense scrutiny column—mostly because another column no longer exists, so too says various historians and sports media alike.
“A lot of politicians aren’t celebrated as much as they were when ceremonial first pitches began. People have a record amount of distrust in government. They aren’t well-liked,” said New York’s National Sports Museum head researcher, Vincent Lospinuo.
It used to be different; Mr. Lospinuo said a “perfect example” of the intersection between sports, entertainment, and politics, was “in the ‘70s, you had Gerald Ford falling off a step, and Chevy Chase making fun of him on SNL. That was pretty significant, in terms of his image. It really helped Carter win.”
President Ford’s fall spawned early-days, peak-influential Saturday Night Live mockery, sealing the Michigan Wolverine Football alum’s fate. He became the definition of a “three-and-out” candidate blocked by his own momentary clumsiness—so much so, not even a demonstration of ambidextrousness when throwing out consecutive first pitches—one with each hand—at the 1976 All-Star Game could change hearts and minds.
Meanwhile, President Bill Clinton (1993–2001) threw out an opening day first pitch on two occasions. Although both pale in comparison to his saxophone rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1992.
This all-time image-solidifier on the campaign trail set the tone for a quintessentially-1990s presidency.
President Clinton left office on his own terms with a 65 percent Gallup poll approval rating—the highest mark since President Harry S. Truman’s 1953 departure—despite being impeached for essentially perjuring himself during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Whereas President Clinton will always have Arsenio, President George W. Bush (2001–2009) will always have his first pitch.
A fellow Yale Handsome Dan ballplayer like his father, President George H.W Bush (1989–1993), before him, it stands to reason this was not the former Texas Ranger owner’s first rodeo in the first pitch department.
Needless to say, such were the stakes on Oct. 30, 2001, mere weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks: Game 3 of the World Series. Yankee Stadium, with 55,820 in attendance, and 23 million more watching at home. President Bush adorned in a bulletproof vest and an FDNY jacket. And Secret Service agents disguised as umpires.
The 2004 documentary “Nine Innings from Ground Zero” made famous the dialogue between President Bush and Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter in the clubhouse ahead of the ceremony.
“So I just asked him if he was going to be throwing the first pitch from the mound, or in front of the mound, and he said ‘in front,’” Mr. Jeter recounted.
“I said, ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you, this is Yankee Stadium, you’re gonna get booed.’”
President Bush, in his own recollection, said, “I’m sitting there, fairly relaxed, kind of loose… walking out, all of a sudden, the great Derek Jeter looks over his shoulder, [and] says ‘don’t bounce it, or they’ll boo ya.’”
“George Bush’s first pitch represented so much more than baseball,” said Jake Kosack, 27, host of “The Bronx Zoo,” a Yankee media content factory.
“It symbolized the spirit of New York and the country on baseball’s biggest stage. [It’s] one of the most iconic moments at a place that’s the pinnacle of baseball.”
Later, President Bush said, “I’d never felt what I felt before when I walked out of that dugout. I felt the raw emotion of the Yankee fans.”
The patriotic solidarity this moment embodied moved not just Yankee fans, but an entire nation still-reeling, and now healing thanks to a most powerful presidential first pitch that granted all permission to cheer once again.
A prevailing thought since: President Bush’s first pitch shall never be matched. Yet, Mr. Jeter’s advice stands the test of time. Even those who grew up rooting against “The Captain” can’t refute hall-of-fame sage.
“The Tribal Chief of Baseball’s” friends in the media at ESPN, Eduardo Perez and Karl Ravech were on the call, “so they’re really giving it to me… They came down to field level, Perez is like “...if you bounce or sail this, just know we have 20 cameras and we’re going to show it from every angle possible if you mess this up.’”
“There is a video Eduardo took from the booth, you can hear him in the background as I’m about to deliver, ‘...he’s been warming up since 3:30,’” Mr. Carrabis said in an interview with The Epoch Times. “Obviously, they’re joking— but there is a lot of pressure.”
With 36,581 in attendance and close to 1.5 million watching on TV, according to Baseball Reference and The Futon Critic, respectively, Mr. Carrabis “felt all of it.”
“Some people, when under pressure, crack. And some people when under pressure have the most laser focus imaginable.”
A pitcher during his Saugus, Massachusetts youth, Mr. Carrabis has since seamlessly transitioned into a powerhouse ambassador for the sport, with a 450,000-deep follower base on X.
His “mentions” naturally ever-bombarded, Mr. Carrabis was as relieved as he was elated to produce a first pitch success story.
“A lot was riding on it,” he reflected, also citing friendly chirps from Yankee manager Aaron Boone, and maybe not-so-friendly chirps he would be due from genuine adversaries of his—like reigning Cy Young Award-winner, Yankee ace Gerrit Cole—should things have gone south.
“There are some guys on the other side who were like, ‘for all the s—t you talk about us, you better come correct.’”
Mr. Carrabis says his podcast would surely cover presidential first pitches, ‘flub’ or ‘missile’—not overly so, but as a means to segue into a broader conversation about baseball history.
“If Biden went out there and couldn’t reach the plate, we would talk about it. If Trump went out there and did a ‘50 Cent,’ we’d bring it up… but I don’t think we’d crush either one of them,” said Mr. Carrabis.
“It’s like, ‘OK, if I throw a strike—from halfway between the mound and the plate—‘great, you weren’t on the rubber.’
“If they’re from the mound, and they throw it away… ‘this is a representation of our country? You’re supposed to be our fearless leader and you can’t even throw a baseball.'”
Mr. Carrabis said there’s no real reward“ for a president today to throw the first pitch. ”Other than being George Bush… that was legendary. I could post that clip tomorrow and it would still get tons and tons of views, people love it.”
On the prospect of a Trump or Biden first pitch, Mr. Carrabis urges not to get your hopes up: “It’s just not worth it… and they’re 80! I was nervous in my 30s… ‘let me go out there and throw a dart right down the pipe?’ No chance.”
“I think it needs to be somebody who can throw a strike from the rubber,” said Brendan Burt, a New York men’s league “lifer” and screen actor with multiple baseball films to his name. The 50-year-old litigation investigator-by-day, diamond junkie-by-night (and lunch break) dismisses new MLB advents like “pace-of-play,” “pine-tar police” and “presidential absentia” as “pure eyewash.”
“It’s shameful we’ve had two Commanders-in-Chief who have not thrown out a first pitch while in-office… there is a tragic irony at the backroom of this whole thing,” he added.
Many interviewees agreed, however, that although he’s 70, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—nephew of President John F. Kennedy (1961–1963), who launched two opening day first pitches and one at the D.C. Stadium-held 1962 All-Star Game before his assassination—holds the athletic pedigree to lay a reputable fastball in there.
So the story goes: we won’t soon see Presidents Trump or Biden take a dip in waters as crapshoot-lined as the first pitch pageantry pool, because evading dips in the polls is the name of their game.
