Sunday and Monday mark Opening Day for all 30 Major League Baseball teams, an annual rite of passage that marks the symbolic beginning of Spring.
The Opening Day tradition of celebrities throwing out a ceremonial first pitch continues in 2015, from Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons in Detroit to new MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in Washington, D.C.
Sitting presidents are often asked to throw out a ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day, but President Obama has done that only once: in 2010 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. He also threw out the first pitch a the 2009 All-Star Game.
Every sitting president going back to President William Howard Taft has thrown out a first pitch, according to BaseballAlmanac.com, though not all were on Opening Day. There’s even video of President Woodrow Wilson throwing out a first pitch, but it’s unclear when during his presidency it occurred. President Jimmy Carter only threw one ceremonial first pitch, but the stage could not have been more crucial: Game 7 of the 1979 World Series.
President George W. Bush threw one of the most memorable first pitches. In 2001, just months after Sept. 11, Bush went to New York City to throw out the first pitch of Game 3 of the World Series. Wearing a bulletproof vest, he threw a perfect strike all the way from the pitcher’s mound to home plate.
In 1988, President Reagan made a surprise appearance at Wrigley Field to throw out two first pitches, with commentators joking Reagan didn’t think the first pitch was good enough. Very early in his career, Reagan was a radio announcer for the Chicago Cubs.
President George H.W. Bush actually captained the Yale baseball team and played in the first two College World Series. However, that skill didn’t show when his first pitch on Opening Day in Baltimore in 1989 was high and outside, nor did it show at Camden Yards’ first-ever game in 1992 when his pitch was low and inside.
Ceremonial first pitches didn’t always look like they do today. For much of history, the ceremonial pitch was simply throwing the ball from the first row of the stands to a player waiting on the field. At the 1976 All-Star Game, President Gerald Ford did as much, eventually throwing two uniquely ambidextrous first pitches, one each with this left and right arms. The pitch also may have been a shrewd political move to distract attention from the Democratic National Convention happening that same evening.
Sometimes, rather than having one player catch the ball, the president would throw the ball into a crowd of players who would fight over the souvenir, as happened in 1961 during a President John F. Kennedy first pitch.
However, President Richard Nixon, throwing out the first pitch at the 1970 All-Star game, simply threw to Detroit Tigers catcher Bill Freehan.
President Franklin Roosevelt threw out the most first pitches, 11 over the course of his 12-year presidency.
Having the sitting president throw out the first pitch might bring the home team a little bit of good fortune. Of the 78 games with the president throwing a first pitch, the home team as a .526 winning percentage. When Presidents Johnson, Carter, Reagan and Obama threw out the first pitch, the home team failed to win every time. On the other hand, both of President Ford’s first pitches ended in a home team victory.
Despite only serving one-term, President H.W. Bush is second-only to President Roosevelt in total first pitches and home-team victories. H.W. Bush threw out eight first pitches, five of which ended in wins for the home side. President Harry Truman also threw out eight first pitches.
President Bill Clinton threw the first pitch for the first-ever game at Jacobs Field, home of the Cleveland Indians, now called Progressive Field.
That first pitch and one other of Clinton’s three first pitches ended in victory for the home team.
