WASHINGTON — One hundred years ago this month, a rotund right-hander, President William Howard Taft, started a tradition by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Senators’ season opener. On Monday, the Washington Nationals turn to a svelte southpaw, President Barack Obama, to make his Nationals Park debut.
From Taft to Richard Nixon, every president has made at least one opening-day toss in Washington. President Franklin D. Roosevelt threw out a record eight Opening Day pitches, including a 1940 toss that smashed into a newspaper photographer’s camera.
After a 33-year absence, baseball returned to Washington in 2005, and George W. Bush resumed the tradition by throwing the opening pitch for the Nationals.
This will be Obama’s first Washington opener and his second time pitching as president. He did the honor at last year’s All-Star Game in St. Louis. He has been warming up for the moment, playing catch on the White House grounds.
“Just like all the pitchers around the majors, the southpaw president has engaged in a little spring training in the Rose Garden to get his curve ball in Opening Day order,” a White House spokesman said.
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