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Washington – Washington Nationals make their presentation to President-elect Joe Biden.
The Nats have invited Biden to throw the first ceremonial ball next season on opening day. Washington is scheduled to host the New York Mets at Nationals Park on April 1.
“We are delighted to continue the long-standing tradition of sitting Presidents pitching the first national pastime home pitch in our nation’s capital,” the team said on Twitter over the weekend.
Biden last threw a first ball as vice-president, in 2009, when the Baltimore Orioles hosted the New York Yankees on opening day at Camden Yards. The right-hander threw a fastball that knocked O wide receiver Chad Moeller out of his squat.
Biden, a Little League shortstop who went on to play on center court, has been around the ball fields often. He’s seen the Phillies a few times in the playoffs, including the 2009 World Series, watched Philadelphia play in Washington in 2012, visited the Yankees in spring training, and attended the Little League World Series.
William Howard Taft began the presidents’ tradition of throwing the first pitch in Washington in 1910. Since then, every sitting president except Donald Trump has pitched a first pitch when Washington had a major league franchise.
Mr. Trump attended Game 5 of the 2019 World Series at the Nationals Park and was booed when introduced while Houston was playing in Washington.
When there was no team in Washington, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, and Bill Clinton threw baseballs while at the office in other major league parks .
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