First Pitches

The Scene: Post 911. Our country is still in a furor, regardless of whether the rage is aimed at the right target or not. But baseball goes on. Our fearless leader (for the sake of this article, imagine there being about a 20 second break while I run to the sink and puke) steps to the mound for a ceremonial first pitch. A strike. Down the middle. It was nearly like something out of a fairy tale. Even the staunchest democrat (like myself), who had long since come to the conclusion that our president was better served competing in the special olympics than manning the oval office, had to have been the tiniest bit smitten by the whole thing. Our country, and about 5000 of our people, were the victims of a brutal attack. And our freakin' president not only swore retribution, but threw a God damned strike. If that ain't something for the ole patriotic chip on the shoulder, then I don't know what the hell is.

Fast forward: March 30th, 2008. Nationals' Park, or whatever the hell they call that new baseball stadium in D.C. Dubya is to throw out the first pitch. Who made that call? Is there a more reviled individual in the States right now? Apparently not. The stadium seats slightly less than 42 thousand people, and about 80% of them were booing loudly as he took the mound. I can't tell you if his fastball down the middle, or his round booing made me smile more proudly.

And by the way, the Nats won on a walk-off homer by Ryan Zimmermann. Todd, who happens to have him as his 3rd baseman in our league, is probably proud. Either that, or playing City of Heros without a care at all. Speaking of which, that game is sick. Thanks for having a shot of 120proof.