WATCH: Dr. Anthony Fauci Throws Out First Pitch At MLB’s Season-Opener, Badly Misses Home Plate
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, threw out the first pitch of the MLB season Thursday night in Washington D.C. It wasn’t exactly a strike.
Standing on the front apron of the pitching mound, the 79-year-old Fauci, a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, awkwardly threw a pitch toward reliever Sean Doolittle that landed in the grass several feet short and wide of home plate. It came in front of a nearly empty Nationals Park and after both team’s starting lineups held a demonstration in support of Black Lives Matter.
Pretty much how the year has gone for Dr. Fauci: pic.twitter.com/kAJtdn2N57
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) July 23, 2020
Fauci, a Nationals fan, notably wore a mask adorned with the team’s logo when he arrived to testify before a House committee in June. Prior to the game on Thursday, several Nationals’ players had praised Fauci and gave him some advice.
Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who opted out of the 60-game season, told him, “If you bounce it, there’s nobody there to boo you, so you’ll be good to go. You’re fine.” Thursday’s starting pitcher, Max Scherzer, also said, “Dr. Fauci, what his leadership has meant for this country, for him to be out there throwing the first pitch, I think that’s a big signal to our country what that means — we can do this.”
While one of Fauci’s former teammates predicted the doctor would throw a perfect strike, several sports books had Fauci as a favorite to not make the plate and bounce the ball. It turns out, they were right.
Watch above, via ESPN.
