Peanuts & Cracker Jack #8
I have a fascination with politicians—specifically presidents—performing PR stunts. Pardoning the turkey, posing with the Easter Bunny, rolling up sleeves when in a mile radius of a plumber. We love our silly little war criminals staging silly little stunts for the silly little media, don’t we folks?
So with today maybe being Opening Day (?) I want to share photos of a presidential PR personal favorite–first pitches!
The tradition started on Opening Day 1910, when notorious baseball fan William Howard Taft threw out the first pitch before the Washington Senators home opener. Since then, every president with the exception of Jimmy Carter, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden (I wonder why) has thrown an Opening Day first pitch while in office. FDR is the league leader with eight, although I think we need an asterisk for his extra terms.
I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do, including the Obama dad jeans bonus, which, technically speaking, was an All-Star Game first pitch.
Oh, and here are my season predictions, for posterity sake.
AL East
Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Boston Red Sox
AL Central
Cleveland Guardians
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Chicago White Sox
AL West
Houston Astros
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
NL East
Atlanta [Censored]
Philadelphia Phillies
New York Mets
Miami Marlins
Washington Nationals
NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
Arizona Diamondbacks
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
AL Wild Card Round
New York Yankees (6) over Cleveland Guardians (3)
Baltimore Orioles (4) over Seattle Mariners (5)
NL Wild Card Round
Chicago Cubs (6) over St. Louis Cardinals (3)
Philadelphia Phillies (5) over San Diego Padres (4)
ALDS
Houston Astros (1) over Baltimore Orioles (4)
Toronto Blue Jays (2) over New York Yankees (6)
NLDS
Los Angeles Dodgers (1) over Philadelphia Phillies (5)
Atlanta [Censored] (2) over Chicago Cubs (6)
ALCS
Houston Astros (1) over Toronto Blue Jays (2)
NLCS
Los Angeles Dodgers (1) over Atlanta [Censored] (2)
World Series
Los Angeles Dodgers (1) over Houston Astros (1)
AL MVP- Julio Rodriguez
NL MVP- Corbin Carroll
AL Cy Young- Corbin Burnes
NL Cy Young- Spencer Strider