#Shortstops: Presidential Pitches
For more than 100 years, the presidents have been pitching.
On April 14, 1910, William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States of America, threw out the first pitch of the Washington Senators’ season. Taft also helped popularize another longstanding baseball tradition by standing up to stretch during the seventh inning later that day.
Since then, almost every sitting U.S. president has thrown a first pitch out sometime during his term, oftentimes on Opening Day. When the Washington Senators left for Texas in 1972, presidents traveled to places like Philadelphia, Baltimore and even Anaheim to keep the tradition going.
So, which president had the best first pitch? This question is obviously a subjective one, but some moments are better remembered than others.
On July 13, 1976, 38th President Gerald Ford was given the honor of throwing out the first pitch for the All-Star Game, celebrating 200 years of the United States. Ford threw two first pitches from the first base stands, one right-handed to National League catcher Johnny Bench, and the other left-handed to AL catcher Thurman Munson. He watched the rest of the game with Hall of Famer Ernie Banks and NBC sportscaster Joe Garagiola.
As a member of Congress before he became president, Ford played catcher for the Republicans during the annual Congressional Baseball Game, even hitting an inside-the-park grand slam home run in 1957.
Before becoming the 40th President, Ronald Reagan got his start as a radio commentator for the Chicago Cubs during the 1930s. When the telegraph lines he used to describe the game went out, he once improvised a 12-minute foul ball streak between Billy Jurges and pitcher Dizzy Dean. On Sept. 30, 1988, Reagan made a surprise appearance at Wrigley Field, where he threw out the first (and second!) pitches from the field before reassuming his old job in the Cubs’ broadcast booth for an inning and a half. He returned to the broadcast booth for another inning with Vin Scully and Tom Seaver during the 1989 All-Star Game.
Franklin D. Roosevelt has the record for the most first pitches at 11 throughout his four terms. His appearance at the 1937 All-Star Game was the first time a president attended the Midsummer Classic.
Arguably, the most important presidential first pitch was George W. Bush’s on Oct. 30, 2001. Baseball had become a unifying power after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and the Yankees’ ascension to the World Series concluded an emotional month and a half for New York. Bush’s perfect strike symbolized a much-needed victory for both New York and the United States of America in general.
The Museum’s collection contains several balls signed by United States presidents, including one signed by 10 different commanders in chief.
Danica Lee was a 2026 programming intern in the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Leadership Development
