Presidential Opener

Being a fan of baseball, and there being nothing else on TV today resulted in me turning on ESPN to watch the beginning of the MLB season. The featured games was the Braves vs the Nationals. These are not teams that I care the least about, but I decided to watch the opening ceremonies, and the first inning or so, atleast until I found something else that caught my interest. This is the first home game for the Washington Nationals, and just like every other home opener in D.C., the first pitch was thrown out by the current President. When President Bush ran out to the mound to throw the pitch I heard a sound a did not expect...boo's.

Let me take this time to clarify that I am not generally a fan of President Bush, but that is not why I am writing.

I just don't think that a fan of the game should boo the person that throws out the first pitch. What kind of statement are you trying to make? You don't like President Bush, who cares, his popularity ratings are in the toilet so you're not alone, but Mr. Bush isn't at the park to promote any new proposals, or to ask people to support the Republican Party. He is simply there to do what every President since Howard Taft has done, throw one pitch, and walk away. It's a moment that a baseball fan should cherish, few people will ever get to see a Presidential Opener, and it should be something you should tell your kids about, or if a clip is shown on TV, you can say "I was at that game." Instead the people that decided to boo can say "I'm the idiot you hear in the background."

Not only did the fans boo as the President was introduced, they booed immediately after he threw the pitch. I don't even know what kinds of statement they think they are making by booing then. It was actually one of the better first pitches I've ever seen. Most of the time whoever is throwing the first pitch has to throw from the very front of the mound, the pitch doesn't make it close to reaching the plate, and is usually far wide to the right or left. Mr. Bush threw from the center of the mound, and although the pitch wasn't right down the middle, it did reach the plate, rather than rolling most of the way. I could maybe understand booing if it seemed that he didn't care, and threw a weak pitch, but you could tell that he is a fan of the game, and wanted to make the best pitch he could. As a fan of the game, I applaud President Bush for continuing in this longtime tradition, and I hope that future Presidents will take the event as seriously as he did.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but I don't feel the need to hear people's political opinions at a baseball game. Applauding for President Bush doesn't mean you support him or the Republican Party. It means your ready to see the game get started, and enjoy the game that you payed a great deal of money to see.