The Washington Nationals have invited President-elect Joe Biden to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day of the 2021 season....
The Washington Nationals have invited President-elect Joe Biden to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day of the 2021 season.
'We're excited to continue the long-standing tradition of sitting Presidents throwing out the first pitch at the home of the national pastime in our nation's capital,' the team announced Saturday night.
Washington is scheduled to host the New York Mets at Nationals Park on April 1.
The early invite - just a day after Biden was declared the winner of the election by TV networks - could be seen as a slight to Donald Trump, who turned down the chance to throw out the first pitch during his four years in office.
The Washington Nationals have invited President-elect Joe Biden to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day of the 2021 season.
Vice President Joe Biden last threw out the first pitch prior to the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees opening day baseball game at Camden Yards in Baltimore in 2009
Washington is scheduled to host the New York Mets at Nationals Park, pictured, on April 1, 2021
Then Vice President Joe Biden and wife Dr. Jill Biden, both right of photo, are seen with military veterans during a Washington Nationals baseball game in July 2012 in Washington, D.C.
Biden last threw out a first ball as vice president, in 2009 when the Baltimore Orioles hosted the New York Yankees on opening day at Camden Yards.
The tall right-hander threw a high fastball that brought O´s catcher Chad Moeller out of his crouch.
Biden, a Little League shortstop who later played center, has frequently been around ballfields.
He saw the Phillies a few times in the postseason, including the 2009 World Series, watched Philadelphia play at Washington in 2012 and has visited the Yankees at spring training.
The 'long-standing tradition' has been absent of late.
President Donald Trump becomes only the second sitting chief executive to not throw out a first pitch on Opening Day at a Major League Baseball game since William Howard Taft began the tradition in 1910.
Fellow one-term President Jimmy Carter was the other.
President Franklin D Roosevelt throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the second game of the World Series in New York, October 1936
Trump's office was reportedly looking into a first pitch at Nationals Park in 2017, but he later turned the team down citing a scheduling issue.
Trump attended Game 5 of the 2019 World Series at Nationals Park and was booed when introduced as Houston played Washington.
The Nationals are scheduled to open the season at Nationals Park on April 1 against the New York Mets.
William Howard Taft began the tradition of presidents throwing out the first pitch in Washington in 1910. Since then, every sitting president except Donald Trump has thrown out a first pitch when Washington had a major league franchise.
President Bill Clinton throws out the ceremonial first pitch on the Opening Day game between the Seattle Mariners and the Cleveland Indians in April 1994 in Cleveland Ohio (left), and George W. Bush throws out the first pitch at Nationals Park in March 2008 (right)
President Barack Obama throws out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Major League Baseball's opening game between the Nationals and the Phillies in Washington in April 2010
President Richard Nixon throws out the first pitch in the 1970 MLB All-Star game
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