High and tight
Just after tossing out the first pitch for the Texas Rangers on Monday, President George W. Bush said his ceremonial pitch at Yankee Stadium following the Sept. 11 attacks was “the most nervous moment of my presidency by far.”
“My adrenaline was surging through my veins,” he said in the Rangers’ broadcast booth. “The ball felt like a shot put. I had never felt a feeling like that before. … I walked out there and my arm felt like a thousand pounds.”
He threw a hard strike that day. On Monday, flanked by Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond, Bush wasn’t quite as accurate, but still threw high, avoiding the dreaded dirt ball.
Bush said he told the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton, who caught his effort, “You didn’t need to bring a glove. It’s so slow, you could catch it barehanded.”
Back home in Texas, in front of the team he once owned, Bush heard more cheers than boos.
Ditto Vice President Joseph Biden Jr., who tossed out the ceremonial first pitch for the Orioles at Camden Yards on Monday. Appearing with his grandchildren and sporting a U.S. Army cap, Biden short-armed a high one (maybe it’s the bulletproof vest?).
A spokeswoman for the Nationals says the White House still hasn’t confirmed whether President Barack Obama will toss out the first ball when the team plays its home opener April 13.
