President Barack Obama is no stranger to challenges — his presidency has been filled with them. But the challenge he’ll face tonight will be a bit different than the others.
Obama is scheduled to throw out the first pitch at tonight’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium.
The presidential first pitch is an American tradition. President Howard Taft threw out the first presidential first pitch at a Washington Senators game in 1910. Most presidents since then have thrown out first pitches at least once during their presidencies. Bush threw out two.
But throwing out the first pitch isn’t a walk in the park. Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory found that out at a Reds game in 2007, where he threw what may be the worst first pitch ever thrown. It may also be the worst pitch ever thrown. (See the video below.)
This won’t be the first time Obama has thrown out the first pitch at Major League Baseball game. Back in 2005, Obama threw out the first pitch at a Chicago White Sox game.
Obama admitted to being nervous at the time.
“Had I thrown a one-hop, I think, whatever aspirations I had, they would have shown that clip over and over again,” Obama later said in an interview with the Springfield State Journal-Register. “I was more nervous than I was before the [2004] Democratic National Convention.”
Millions of Americans will be watching tonight when Obama takes the mound. The question is, will Obama’s pitch bounce?
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