Home Run Derby

Tonight, President Barack Obama will throw out the first pitch at the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis.  He’ll be the first sitting president to throw out a pitch at an ASG since Gerald Ford in the 1970’s.

There will be much pomp and circumstance and many Cardinals fans will cheer very loudly for our Commander-in-Chief as he throws out the first pitch … even though it will kill any chance the Cardinals have for winning the World Series in 2009. 

Why?  

Well, no MLB team that’s had a sitting President throw out the first pitch at a game in their Home Stadium has won that year’s World Series in over 77 years.

Now mind you - about half of this 77-year streak can be directly blamed on the futility of the Washington Senators.  From 1931-1969, a sitting president didn’t throw a ball unless the game was played in DC – and the Senators only appeared in one World Series during that span (1933 – they lost).

In 1970, the Senators went to Texas to become the Rangers, forcing presidents to do their throwing exercises in other venues - but the jinx continued … fifteen other teams have had a president throw out a first pitch 26 times over the past 39 seasons (nine times in Baltimore) … and none of them has won the World Series that season.  Here’s a full list of Presidential First Pitches.

In fact – of these 15 teams, five of them have gone to the World Series that season … and lost. 

• 1970 Cincinnati Reds – President Richard Nixon threw out the first pitch before the 1970 All-Star Game.  The Reds lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.
• 1979 Baltimore Orioles – President Jimmy Carter threw out the first pitch before Game Seven of the 1979 World Series.  The Pirates beat the Os.
• 2001 New York Yankees – In the shadow of 9/11, President George W. Bush threw out an emotional first pitch before Game 3 of the World Series.  But the Yankees fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks in seven games.
• 2004 St. Louis Cardinals – President Bush threw out a pitch at Busch Stadium and the Cardinals had the best record in the Major Leagues.  But the Cards got swept in the World Series by the Boston Red Sox.

Now, you might think this is just a gigantic coincidence, but consider this -

• In 1983, President Ronald Reagan was scheduled to throw out the first pitch before Game One of the World Series in Baltimore.  But due to a security risk, he didn’t do it (First Lady Nancy Reagan did).  And the Orioles went on to win the World Series.
• In 1994, President Bill Clinton threw out the first pitch at Jacobs Field for the Cleveland Indians.  There was no World Series in 1994 due to a players’ strike.  But the jinx would not be denied … the Indians went to the World Series in 1995 … and lost to the Braves.

The last president to throw a pitch in the home park of the that season’s World Series Champion was President Herbert Hoover.  Hoover did the honors in Philly before the 1930 World Series, in which the Philadelphia Athletics beat the St. Louis Cardinals. 

For a while, Hoover was Philly’s good luck charm – when he attended A’s games (including the decisive Game 5 of the 1929 World Series), the A’s won.  Up until the 1931 World Series, that is.  Hoover was slated to throw out the first pitch of Game 3 of  … but he got tied up with pre-game photographers and the game started before he could throw out the first pitch.  The A’s lost the series.

Only two other teams have accomplished the feat – the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators.  The Yankees won in 1923 after Warren G Harding threw out a pitch at Yankee Stadium in April.   In 1924, Calvin Coolidge threw out the first pitch before the Game 1 of Washington’s only World Series Championship – but he did the same thing in1925 and the Senators lost.

Of course, this might all be moot with President Obama. 

In 2005, then Senator Barack Obama threw out the first pitch for the Chicago White Sox during the playoffs and the Sox won the World Series that season.  And Obama already proved he’s able to break baseball-related jinxes.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Cardinals, Jinx, MLB All-Star Game, MLB Weirdness, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.