March 31, 2008

Bush Booed By Beltway Baseballers! : The high heat shut 'em up a little bit, though.

read story | posted by The_Black_Hand to Baseball at 4:44 PM CDT (31 comments total)

Out of all the presidents that I've seen throw out ceremonial pitches, he definitely has the mechanics and strength to do it right.

I would like to have seen him shake off a sign and do a full wind-up, but in terms of accuracy and power, he blows away all previous presidents.

There. I finally said something nice about the guy for the first time in 6.5 years.

posted by grum@work at 4:51 PM CDT on March 31

To be fair, it was boos mixed in with at least as much cheering, at least as far as I could tell on the clip.

posted by Chargdres at 4:58 PM CDT on March 31

They were saying BOOOOOO-USH!

posted by machaus at 5:00 PM CDT on March 31

I would like to have seen him shake off a sign and do a full wind-up, but in terms of accuracy and power, he blows away all previous presidents.

Don't be foolish, there is a reason he darts out to the mound and back. He is a big baseball fan, and now I assume he did more than sit in the skybox when he was the owner(?)of the Rangers

posted by scuubie at 6:07 PM CDT on March 31

Sorry, didn't mean to infer you were foolish,,,,,,,

posted by scuubie at 6:08 PM CDT on March 31

I saw 5 different clips that did indeed have as much cheering as booing. It's a matter of respect for the office whether you like the man holding it or not. He threw it well. No short bounce.

posted by budman13 at 6:15 PM CDT on March 31

To keep this from becoming a trainwreck, a note from your admin: Comments about the mechanics of Bush's throw and other sports matters are welcomed. Comments about politics and the president will be deleted.

posted by rcade at 6:44 PM CDT on March 31

I'm sure the Tigers would welcome Bush as a middle reliever.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 8:00 PM CDT on March 31

I must say rcade, with all due respect, the thread seems a little unnecessary without any sort of political comments or "comments about the president;" Seeing as how the boos were made with vigor prior to the throw, it seems unlikely that they were made in relation to the "mechanics" of the throw itself. I suppose it is possible that he was booed because he's an acknowledged ranger fan/ former ranger owner, but... Maybe the real topic has something to do with the fact that baseball season ticket buyers are increasingly older every season*, and thus increasingly likely conservative**, yet they are still booing the republican president... In the nations capital. If that is too political the thread seems maybe too politically charged.

*I searched for a cite for this for all of about 27 seconds before I lost interest.

**I didn't even try... I'll happily recant if provided with evidence.

posted by everett at 8:04 PM CDT on March 31

Everett: I was going to delete this, but Grum's comment got the save.

posted by rcade at 8:11 PM CDT on March 31

Years ago when Bush owned the Rangers, he used to come into the booth occasionally and jawbone with the announcing team. He would even call plays as they occurred. He was good enough at play-by-play and analysis to get a job doing it, and showed verbal dexterity that you wouldn't expect from the guy.

posted by rcade at 8:13 PM CDT on March 31

fair enough.

posted by everett at 8:52 PM CDT on March 31

I would have rather watched Stephen Harper throw out the first pitch at the Montreal Expos home opener in their new stadium.

posted by tommytrump at 9:17 PM CDT on March 31

I'm with Everett, rcade. Of course we don't want this to become a political debate, but sometimes, like this afternoon, politics does bleed onto the field. In cases like this, i think it is appropriate to discuss the event and its cause. If we cant discuss the topic in full, what is the point of posting it in the first place?

posted by elijahin24 at 10:44 PM CDT on March 31

first pitch at the Montreal Expos home opener in their new stadium

Aww, man, don't rub it in. It was snowing here this afternoon, and I wondered how an opener in our brand new outdoors downtown stadium would have felt like.

posted by qbert72 at 10:47 PM CDT on March 31

If we cant discuss the topic in full, what is the point of posting it in the first place?

I agree. Otherwise, what's the point of the post? If you're gonna allow the post, might as well allow the train wreck.

Especially when you've already allowed this:

It's a matter of respect for the office whether you like the man holding it or not.

posted by cjets at 11:04 PM CDT on March 31

It was snowing here this afternoon

I watched the Twins at home to the Angels this morning (our time). The commentators kept alluding to the snowdrifts outside the Dome, and showed a shot of the new outdoor stadium construction site under a blanket of white. Maybe these new stadiums are designed in anticipation of global warming.

And our received broadcast (ESPN) of yesterday's Nationals opener had George W. chatting in the booth for an innings. They went over the ceremonial pitch using the strike zone analysis, then they got serious about the Mitchell Report. While I have no time for him politically either, he did seem relaxed and fairly knowledgeable about the game.

posted by owlhouse at 12:04 AM CDT on April 1

...George W. chatting in the booth for an innings...

He does have more than the casual fan's knowledge of the game. His best lines were the comments about Chipper Jones's home run. He basically said that if Jones had had to hit his (Bush's) ceremonial pitch, he would never have put it out. They did a k-zone of Bush's throw with the strike zone roughly 3-times normal size. He still missed it high!!!

posted by Howard_T at 12:15 AM CDT on April 1

I'm just happy that it's his last first pitch. It was a good one though.

posted by jm_mosier at 6:35 AM CDT on April 1

No post about any politician throwing out a first pitch is complete without this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVMiJdHTfUo

posted by ajaffe at 8:52 AM CDT on April 1

Eric Davis' reaction to that throw cracks me up.

posted by rcade at 9:23 AM CDT on April 1

Almost as bad as the world class gold medal athlete Carl Lewis' attempt. apparently you can't really find that one online anymore unfortunately.

posted by everett at 9:51 AM CDT on April 1

Memo to ESPN:

Kindly try to avoid putting Jon Miller in a two-shot without a shitload of warning - you broadcast in HD now.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:33 AM CDT on April 1

I didn't expect to see a post about this, but I commented to my wife right at the moment - like him or not (which I don't), I really wish this was one occasion that people could hold it in. You don't have to cheer, but he was there for nothing but baseball, so no need to boo.
I also thought it was cool what the Nationals did on his coat. I'm not a huge fan of our commander-in-chief going by simply "dubya", but did you you notice on the right breast of his coat, the middle initial W was the Nationals logo? Didn't exactly take Einstein to dream that up, but I thought it was clever.

posted by littleLebowski at 11:19 AM CDT on April 1

No post about any politician throwing out a first pitch is complete without this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVMiJdHTfUo

For a second there I thought that was John Rocker with a tan.

posted by smithnyiu at 1:34 PM CDT on April 1

Maybe the real topic has something to do with the fact that baseball season ticket buyers are increasingly older every season*, and thus increasingly likely conservative*

Who can argue with that? Impeccable logic.

posted by curlyelk at 7:58 PM CDT on April 1

like him or not (which I don't), I really wish this was one occasion that people could hold it in.

I can understand this, but at the same time, everyone who feels that way about him, would love to get a chance to let him know it, and when else are the people in that group gonna get access to him? I think they are well within the realm of reason. had they started throwing battery's, that would have gone too far. Free speech is fine.

posted by elijahin24 at 10:21 AM CDT on April 2

It's not a question of whether they were allowed to boo or not--of course they were. The issue is that this was supposed to be a celebration of the opening of a new baseball season with a brand new stadium for the Nationals. The President of the United States came to throw out the first pitch for the new park in Washington, DC. I agree with littleLebowski, I wish people could have seen this for the Office of the President rather than the man in the position and for the celebration that it was. Booing is certainly well within everyone's rights and perhaps even justified, it's just in bad taste in this situation.

posted by bender at 10:37 AM CDT on April 2

Booing is certainly well within everyone's rights and perhaps even justified, it's just in bad taste in this situation.

I would suggest that the bad taste was in inviting this president to throw out the first pitch. I can't say any more on this without violating Rcade's edict.

posted by cjets at 11:15 AM CDT on April 2

Yeah cjets he's for real about that to. He already got one of my comments. Anyway, I agree. If you want a celebratory atmosphere, without controversy, it might not be a good idea to invite a person who is a lightning rod for controversy.

posted by elijahin24 at 12:35 PM CDT on April 2

It was snowing here this afternoon, and I wondered how an opener in our brand new outdoors downtown stadium would have felt like.

I can answer that one for ya qbert. Cold as hell, but one of the most fun games I've ever been to! It was almost zero at game time with the wind chill, and in the neg's by the time it was over close to 9:00pm. That storm dumped almost 11 inches of snow on the field for that series. -see Cleveland Indians home opener 2007.

posted by jojomfd1 at 5:32 AM CDT on April 6

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