First pitches

[Killick]

If you have any way of doing so, make sure you catch the attempt by Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory at today's Reds-Cubs game. He lauches it about 10 feet left of home plate -- and the look on Eric Davis' face (he was catching) is priceless. A mix of "Is this guy putting me on?" and "Oh my God! He hit the bull!"

 

[slappy4428]

First pitches stopped being important when the empty suits in the front office used it as a marketing tool.
A special treat became everyday.

 

[Killick]

Yeah, but this was just special. Mallory was up on Univ of Cincinnati campus last week practicing. I heard it was just pitiful -- dude was launching them into the dugouts, guys in the stands were ducking. And then Mallory does it for the big moment.

 

[ifilus]

Meanwhile...

George Bush declined to throw out the first pitch at the Nationals game.

Today is Washington's 65th Opening Day since 1910, when William H. Taft gave us a tradition: the ceremonial first pitch by the president. Taft threw the inaugural one for the Senators that year. In the local club's 63 home openers since, a dozen presidents have done the honors 45 times, from front-row seats or from the mound, making them 46 for 64 overall (.719). Pretty reliable.

"Oh, yes, he was invited," said Bush spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore. She said the president, an avid baseball fan and former part owner of the Texas Rangers, would love to be there. But "it's not possible with his schedule. He's got various meetings during the day, a meeting earlier in the morning. . . . It just wasn't going to work out."

With Bush's approval ratings stuck below 40 percent in recent polls, Lawrimore was asked whether the president feared he'd get booed. "No," she replied. "Certainly not."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/01/AR2007040101262_pf.html

 

[MertWindu]

If you have any way of doing so, make sure you catch the attempt by Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory at today's Reds-Cubs game. He lauches it about 10 feet left of home plate -- and the look on Eric Davis' face (he was catching) is priceless. A mix of "Is this guy putting me on?" and "Oh my God! He hit the bull!"

"I don't know where it's goin..."

 

[Freelance Hack]

Meanwhile...

George Bush declined to throw out the first pitch at the Nationals game.

Today is Washington's 65th Opening Day since 1910, when William H. Taft gave us a tradition: the ceremonial first pitch by the president. Taft threw the inaugural one for the Senators that year. In the local club's 63 home openers since, a dozen presidents have done the honors 45 times, from front-row seats or from the mound, making them 46 for 64 overall (.719). Pretty reliable.

"Oh, yes, he was invited," said Bush spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore. She said the president, an avid baseball fan and former part owner of the Texas Rangers, would love to be there. But "it's not possible with his schedule. He's got various meetings during the day, a meeting earlier in the morning. . . . It just wasn't going to work out."

With Bush's approval ratings stuck below 40 percent in recent polls, Lawrimore was asked whether the president feared he'd get booed. "No," she replied. "Certainly not."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/01/AR2007040101262_pf.html

My guess is Bush would rather wait an throw one out in Arlington.

 

[Armchair_QB]

If you have any way of doing so, make sure you catch the attempt by Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory at today's Reds-Cubs game. He lauches it about 10 feet left of home plate -- and the look on Eric Davis' face (he was catching) is priceless. A mix of "Is this guy putting me on?" and "Oh my God! He hit the bull!"

I saw it. He actually hit one of the umpires. It was funny as hell. I couldn't hear the audio so I didn't know who it was. It's also worth watching the replay just to get a look at Eric Davis' suit. It's from the Michael Irvin Collection.

 

[Del_B_Vista]

The Cincy mayor's attempt:

 

[crusoes]

The ump mock-throwing him out of the game, at least, had a sense of humor about it. Davis' reaction, though, was priceless.

 

[Armchair_QB]

The ump mock-throwing him out of the game, at least, had a sense of humor about it. Davis' reaction, though, was priceless.

It looked like he expected Ashton Kutcher to jump out and yell "You're punk'd!"

 

[Mayfly]

Rich Ankiel anyone?

 

[Angola!]

The Cincy mayor's attempt:

How could someone be so bad? That is some funny stuff.

 

[zeke12]

AP NEWS ALERT --

The Mayor of Cincinnati has just signed a contract to be a relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

In all honesty, that's ****ing terrible. He had to know he was going to be that bad. Decline the invitation, dude.

 

[slappy4428]

Wow... he'd have to improve to throw like a 5-year-old...
He didn't throw it, he kinda pushed it... and forgot to let go.

 

[The Big Ragu]

If he was a lefty, there'd be an MLB job for him somewhere. Scott Boras would make a case study comparing his delivery to Mike Meyers.

 

[Claws for Concern]

WTF? That's what I got from Eric Davis' reaction.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Sirs, Madames,

I prefer ...



YHS, etc

 

[Killick]

Mine, too, now. Pretty girl.

 

[mpcincal]

Enjoyed first pitch at the Angels' opener last night:

Troy Percival, who signed a minor-league contract earlier in the day so he could retire as an Angel, ran in from the bullpen and threw the pitch like he was facing Frank Thomas with the game on the line.

 

[Jack_Kerouac]

Wow... he'd have to improve to throw like a 5-year-old...
He didn't throw it, he kinda pushed it... and forgot to let go.

My 5-year-old throws about 10 times more accurately and quite a bit harder than that. I'm not saying he could hit the strike zone from that distance, but it would be within catching distance for the catcher at least.