Home / News / Washington Nationals invite President-Elect Joe Biden to throw out first pitch on Opening Day in 2021

Washington Nationals invite President-Elect Joe Biden to throw out first pitch on Opening Day in 2021

By Ian Oland

 0 Comment

November 7, 2020 10:07 pm

The Washington Nationals invited Joe Biden to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day in 2021.

The Nats made the ask while Biden conducted his first speech as president-elect Saturday night.

“We look forward to hosting President-Elect Biden on Opening Day of the 2021 season,” the Nationals wrote. “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.”

Biden is a hockey fan and a baseball fan. He sported a Philadelphia Phillies hat on Opening Day in July.

The United States president throwing out the first pitch of the major league season is a longtime baseball tradition that stretches back to 1910 when William Taft threw a pitch from the stands to the Nationals’ Walter Johnson.

Every president since then except for Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump have followed suit. The Nationals invited Trump to do so during his first year in office, but he declined to do so citing a scheduling conflict.

The last sitting president to throw out the first pitch at Nationals Park was Barack Obama in 2010.

The Nationals’ invite to Biden during his speech could be interpreted as saltiness towards Trump. The Nationals’ invited Jose Andres to throw out the first pitch in the World Series during the game Trump was scheduled to attend. Trump sued Andres years earlier and the two are not on good terms. The Nationals also asked Dr. Fauci to throw out the first pitch of the 2020 season. Trump is a frequent critic of the NIAID Director.

Headline photo: Gage Skidmore

,