Bear with me, this is about more than baseball.
After a three month delay, Major League Baseball finally starts its season tonight. It's a drastically-shortened 60-game seasons, rather than the normal 162, but it's still baseball, and they still count. Whether it's a good idea to play is another matter entirely -- I think it's foolish -- but even with fewer games, no fans in the ballparks and odd schedule, baseball is to me, first and foremost, as much as I love the Chicago Cubs, an entertainment, and so I look forward to the broadcasts. Which brings us to this bit of absolutely wonderful political whimsy. Before the first game of the season, Major League Baseball has always had a really big ceremony with the throwing out of the first pitch. And this year, that huge ceremonial honor is going to -- Dr. Anthony Fauci!!!! But wait, it's not just that he’s throwing out the first pitch of any old game, anywhere, at any time during the season which would be terrific enough, but we have to put this in full perspective of not just the first pitch itself but why it will have even more attention than usual. 1. It’s the MLB high-profile opening game of the season. 2. Which will played at home with the high-profile defending World Series champions. 3. Who are located in, of all possible cities, Washington, D.C. 4. Playing the game against the highest-profile New York Yankees. 5. After a three-month delay with the public anxiously bursting, waiting for baseball to finally start again. 6. Broadcast on national television. 7. That the President of the United States historically throws out the first pitch for, ever since President William Taft did it initially in 1910. All those points are biggees, and the audience for this will be huge, but it’s this last point that most leaps out to me. I don’t know if Trump would even want to throw out the first pitch, or ever has since taking office. I tend to doubt it. But it’s still the tradition, for 109 years, and to have Trump replaced by Dr. Anthony Fauci must be galling to him And we add to it a bonus point – the official announcement of the Washington Nationals…the most unkindest cut to Trump of all. They wrote: "Dr. Fauci has been a true champion for our country during the COVID-19 pandemic and throughout his distinguished career, so it is only fitting that we honor him as we kick off the 2020 season and defend our World Series Championship title." The broadcast begins on ESPN at 7 PM local time in the East, and 4 PM PDT, for those who want to watch. I suspect it will be on the news.
3 Comments
Douglas Abramson
7/23/2020 08:48:03 pm
And apparently ALL of the Nationals and the Yankees took a knee during the anthem. Fat Head won't like that; especially since he spent part of the afternoon insisting that the Yankees had invited him to throw out the first pitch at a game "some time in August". Yeah, I sure that wasn't lie to sooth his own ego at the good doctor getting the honor tonight.
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Robert Elisberg
7/24/2020 08:12:42 am
Actually, no, that wasn't the case. There was a special Black Lives Matter presentation *before* the anthem, and that's when both teams took their unified knee. But yes, it was notable to both teams took a knee on behalf of Black Lives Matter.
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Douglas Abramson
7/24/2020 10:43:08 am
Ah; I was on the wrong end of some sloppy reporting, apparently. I still love it, though.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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