Quote of the day
December 7, 2022
Last year, more Americans went to symphonies than went to baseball games. This may be viewed as an alarming statistic, but I think that both baseball and the country will endure.
~John F. Kennedy
Tag: President of the United States
This day in baseball: President Taft attends a Pirates game
May 29, 2022
William Howard Taft became the first sitting U.S. President to attend a baseball game outside of Washington, D.C. on May 29, 1909. Taft joined 14,000 fans at Pittsburgh’s Exposition Park to watch the Pirates play the Cubs, though he didn’t bring the Pirates any good luck that day. The Bucs lost the contest, 8-3.
Teddy the Republican Batter
October 30, 2021
Theodore Roosevelt is well-known for the line, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” This cartoon takes that phrase and gives it a baseball twist. In it, Roosevelt is depicted as a baseball player on the field amongst other political figures. If you look closely, you can see the phrase “Honest & upright government” printed on the bat, while the ball bears the phrase “Trashy politics.”
The image was created in January 1903 for Puck magazine, a political satire publication printed in the early- to mid-1900s in New York City.
Quote of the day
April 29, 2021
Baseball isn’t just the stats. As much as anything else, baseball is the style of Willie Mays, or the determination of Hank Aaron, or the endurance of a Mickey Mantle, the discipline of Carl Yastrzemski, the drive of Eddie Mathews, the reliability of a (Al) Kaline or a (Joe) Morgan, the grace of a (Joe) DiMaggio, the kindness of a Harmon Killebrew, and the class of Stan Musial, the courage of a Jackie Robinson, or the heroism of Lou Gehrig. My hope for the game is that these qualities will never be lost.
~George W. Bush
This day in baseball: Harding’s first pitch
April 13, 2021
President Warren G. Harding threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a Washington Senators game held on April 13, 1921, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. Washington ended up losing to the Red Sox, 6-3, making this the first time in six Opening Days contests the Senators have lost with the President of the United States throwing out the first pitch.
Quote of the day
January 25, 2021
As much as I lacked confidence in my ability to communicate verbally, I always had confidence in my athletic ability. Sports were as natural to me as speaking was unnatural. And sports turned out to be my ticket to acceptance — and more. I wasn’t easily intimidated in a game, so even when I stuttered, I was always the kid who said, “Give me the ball.”
~Joe Biden
Quote of the day
June 10, 2020
If you weren’t around in those times, I don’t think you could appreciate what a figure the Babe was. He was bigger than the President.
~Richards Vidmer
This day in baseball: Robinson awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
March 26, 2020
On March 26, 1984, President Ronald Reagan awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to Jackie Robinson. Rachel Robinson accepted the award on behalf of her husband. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is considered the highest civilian honor given in the United States.
You can watch President Reagan’s remarks from that Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony in the video below. If you’d like to go straight to his remarks about Robinson, you can find them at the 16:03 timestamp.
This day in baseball: First presidential pass
May 16, 2019
Though he wasn’t exactly the game’s biggest fan, on May 16, 1907, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues issued the first presidential lifetime pass to President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt preferred sports that were “more vigorous,” though he later admitted that he enjoyed watching his son Quentin participate in baseball. Nevertheless, Roosevelt never attended a major league baseball game.
This day in baseball: First professional team at the White House
April 13, 2019
The first professional sports team to visit the White House was the Forest Cities ball club, a recently defunct franchise of the National Association, brought to Washington, D.C. by President Chester A. Arthur on April 13, 1883. Later in the season, President Arthur also hosted the new National League’s New York Gothams (who would become known as the Giants in 1885).
