Tonight the world will know Barack Obama is a lefty.
That's because the president will throw the ceremonial first pitch for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in St. Louis. Obama is left-handed, like most recent presidents, but unlike most successful pitchers.
Nothing less than Obama's pride and manhood are at stake for the millions of mostly male baseball fans who will watch him try to throw a strike. (I exaggerate, but only slightly).
Remember for a moment how hard it is to throw a strike. You must stand
more than 60 feet from the catcher and throw a ball less than 3 inches
in diameter into an imaginary box roughly 17 inches wide (the width of
home plate) and as tall as the area between a knee and a chest, which
vary from batter to batter, for this pitch to be counted as a strike.
If a major league pitcher does this enough times in a season, he's the
best in his league and wins the Cy Young award. If pitching were
politics, this would be like winning the White House.
For left-handed pitchers, winning the Cy Young is harder than the White
House, though. About 30 percent of Cy Young winners were southpaws.
During the same time, five of ten presidents have been left handed,
including Obama. (The president's home team, the Chicago White Sox,
never had a Cy Young winning southpaw.)
One wonders if Obama has been practicing his technique before the
All-Star Game, as George W. Bush did before delivering a strike across
the Yankee home plate during the 2001 World Series. Bush did so wearing
a bulletproof vest no less. This might be the one time Obama has an
easier time than his predecessor lately.
I hope Obama pitches better than he throw.
Is it any surprise he's a lefty?
Read my take and stick around for more good content.
http://libertarianhumor.com/2009/07/13/obama-baseball/
Ehhh, he doesn't really have to throw a strike. The golden rule for first pitches is simple: don't bounce it. Get it in the air to the catcher, and it's all good.
While GW Bush certainly had his shortcomings, his first pitch in 2001 was a really cool moment. New York City, shortly after 9/11; a palpable concern in the air at one of the first major public gatherings in the city since the attacks. The guy comes out not to the front of the mound -- where first pitches are typically thrown from -- but right to the rubber. Then, he doesn't just throw a strike; he puts some hair on that bad boy and drills the zone.
It really was a hair-raising moment given the circumstances; one of the cooler things I ever saw GWB do.
Given that we only make up 7-10% of the population, I'd say a 30% hit rate on winning Cy Young Awards is fairly decent.
7-10% of the population, 30% of Cy Young winners, and 50% of last ten Presidents. Not isn't decent, it's sinister! Go lefties!