Here’s How Joe Biden Did Last Time He Threw Out an Opening Day First Pitch

 

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President Joe Biden will not be throwing out the first pitch on Major League Baseball’s Opening Day this year, but fans curious about how he would have done can go to the videotape to find out.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki no doubt disappointed some fans this week when she confirmed that President Biden had declined an invitation to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at The Washington Nationals’ first game of the season.

Psaki told reporters that “I know the President is eager to get out to Nationals Stadium. Many beautiful days, many beautiful baseball games ahead this spring. It’s not on his schedule this week, but I certainly expect that baseball fans will be hearing from him in the next couple days.”

And they did, when the president sat for an 11-minute interview with ESPN’s Sage Steele. Toward the end of that interview, Biden reminisced about throwing out a first pitch as President Barack Obama’s vice president.

“When I threw the first pitch out in Washington a couple years ago, I remember everybody talked about, they said ‘Well why are you doing it from the rubber?'” Biden recalled. “I said ‘Because that’s where you pitch from.'”

He recounted the catcher cracking “Well it was a typical ball, high and outside,” and Biden added “At least it went across the plate.”

“That is a victory, absolutely,” Steele agreed with a laugh.

“That is a victory,” Biden said, likely referring to President Obama’s attempt at an All Star Game first pitch in 2009, which came up short of home plate.

Biden’s predecessor did not throw out a ceremonial first pitch during his presidency, but did once land a helicopter on the field at a minor league game in 2004 and threw out the first pitch — which bounced off of the plate.

So how good is President Biden’s memory? Not too shabby. The pitch was thrown at a Baltimore Orioles opener at Camden Yards in 2009, and was made from a few feet in front of the pitching rubber.

But the pitch, a high change-up, did appear to hit the outside corner and definitely crossed the plate in the air. And in a testament to the often dim spotlight of the vice presidency of yesteryear, the video appears only to be publicly available by a YouTube-using Orioles fan named Craig Madiou.

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