AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
- March 28, 2019 is opening day for the 2019 Major League Baseball season.
- Over the past 100 years, many American presidents have celebrated America’s pastime by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at opening days.
- Many former presidents including George H.W. Bush and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were lifelong lovers of the sport.
- Here are some of the times US Presidents have thrown the first pitches on past opening days.
March 28 is Opening Day for the 2019 Major League Baseball season, which in previous years has seen its fair share of politicians throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
Many former US presidents, regardless of their political affiliation, have shared a lifelong passion for America’s pastime, and have taken to the mound to throw the first pitch on opening days dating back to 1910.
During the Great Depression, then-president Franklin Delano Roosevelt supported baseball as a comfort and a light-hearted distraction from the struggles Americans were facing.
Ronald Reagan also broadcasted play-by-play re-enactments of Chicago Cubs game for an Iowa radio station in the 1930s — and would go on to throw out the first pitch as President himself.
President Donald Trump has yet to throw out the first pitch at an MLB opening day while in office.
Here are some of the times US Presidents have thrown the first pitches on past opening days.
President Barack Obama threw the first pitch at a Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies game on opening day 2010.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
In 2009, Vice President Joe Biden threw the first pitch at the Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees opening-day game.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
George W. Bush threw the first pitch at the Milwaukee Brewers vs. Cincinnati Reds game in 2001, the first year of his presidency.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – gpanetta@businessinsider.com (Grace Panetta)