"I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner." - Dwight Eisenhower
From throwing out the first pitch of the season to inviting the World Series champs to join him in the Oval Office…nearly every U.S. President has had some connection with baseball.
But did you know that in the 23 elections since 1920, 16 of them have been determined by who won the World Series? Well...sort of.
In the eight seasons that a National League team won the Fall Classic, six times, the Democratic candidate won the presidency. Conversely, the American League won 15 World Series championships, and in all but five of those seasons...the Republican won.
So, does the San Francisco Giants winning this year mean Barack Obama will, again, call The White House his? We'll see.
To celebrate this Election Day, here are twelve more things you might not have known about the connection between the guy who calls 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue home and our national pastime.
2131
When Lou Gehrig’s 56-year-old record for consecutive games played was surpassed by Cal Ripken on September 6, 1995, both President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were in Baltimore to watch it happen. When Ripken went deep in the fourth inning, Clinton was in the WBAL radio broadcast booth and called the home run over the air.
February 20, 1993
When the Texas Rangers brought up 19-year-old shortstop Jurickson Profar at the end of the 2012 season, not only did he become the Major's youngest player...he also became the game's only player born during the Clinton administration. You see, Profar, born February 20, 1993 entered the world just a month after Bill Clinton's first inauguration.
1892
On June 6, 1892, Benjamin Harrison was the first president to attend a Major League baseball game. He saw his Washington Senators get topped by the Cincinnati Reds 7-4 in 11 innings.
714
Of the 52,154 fans on hand in Cincinnati to see "Hammerin’ Hank" tie Babe Ruth all-time home run record on April 4, 1974…then-Vice President Gerald Ford was one of them. Four nights later, Aaron bested Ruth. Four months later, Ford took over the Oval Office from Richard Nixon.
373
When Grover Cleveland Alexander was born (1887), president Grover Cleveland was in his second year in office. After a 20-year big league career, the eventual Hall of Fame pitcher put up 373 victories. In 1952, Alexander was portrayed on film by, you guessed it, then-future president Ronald Reagan in the movie "The Winning Team".
335
At a reported 335 pounds, William Howard Taft is not only the heaviest president…but on April 14, 1910, dude started the American tradition of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
The Washington Post headline the next day: "TAFT TOSSES BALL…Crowd Cheers President's Fine Delivery of the Sphere". Tough crowd.
86
On August 13, 1960, former president Herbert Hoover threw out the first pitch at an old-timers game at Yankee Stadium…he was eighty-six years old.
11
It should come as no surprise that the president that was elected to four consecutive terms is the same president that has thrown out the most Opening Day first pitches with 11. But did you know that Franklin D. Roosevelt also threw out the ceremonial first pitch on October 1, 1932…a game best known for Babe Ruth’s "called shot"?
9
This one is a tough one to nail down officially, but according to a number of online sources, there have been nine left-handed (Ulysses S. Grant, James Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama) since 1860. But as I found out, throwing left-handed and writing left-handed are two different things. That said, Truman was the first to throw out a pitch lefty when he did so in 1945. Five years later, the 33rd President did himself one better, by throwing out two first pitches…one left-handed and the other with his right. Yup…Truman was ambidextrous.
8
Of the 20 Presidential Medals of Freedom that have been handed out to athletes, baseball players have received the most. By placing the medal around Stan Musial's neck early last year, Barack Obama made the lifelong St. Louis Cardinal baseball's eighth recipient. The other seven...Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Joe DiMaggio, Buck O'Neil, Frank Robinson, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams. Not too shabby.
5
I know he doesn't have a big league ride right now, but since he isn't officially retired, Jamie Moyer is the only "current" player to have played during five (Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama) presidential administrations. Also, having been born November 17, 1962…he’s the only one that could tell you where he was the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
.264
Much has been made about George W. Bush being the former owner of the Texas Rangers. Truth is, baseball runs in his blood...both his father and grandfather played college ball at Yale University. The elder President Bush threw left-handed, batted right-handed, played first base and hit .264 during a 1948 season that saw the Bulldogs lose to Southern California (two games to one) in the National Collegiate Athletic Association final.
