Obama Throws Out First Pitch At 2009 All-Star Game
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Baseball legend Willie Mays says he was so proud the night Barack Obama was elected president that he "cried for most of the night."
The 78-year-old Hall of Fame centerfielder spoke with reporters as he flew with Obama from Michigan to St. Louis for Tuesday night's All-Star game.
Obama threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Mays, who played much of his career with the San Francisco Giants, said he met Obama in Chicago on election night last November. He said he reminded Obama that he had dreamed about the day when someone of their race would be elected president.
Mays and many others began playing pro baseball when segregation was still widespread.
Filled with pride on the night of a historic election that made Obama the nation's first black president, Mays said he stayed up until 7 or 8 o'clock the next morning.
"I reminded him that I cried for most of the night in Chicago," said Mays, still emotional as he spoke about that night eight months ago.
"So that tells me all the things I went through, it was for good things," said Mays, who wore an orange-trimmed, black Giants baseball cap with his suit. "So I'm just proud of him, you know. He may be proud of something else. But I'm proud of him, what he stands for."
Mays said his one bit of advice to Obama for the night's pitch was: "Follow through."
President Obama will throw out the first pitch at this year's Major League Baseball All-Star Game on July 14 in St. Louis.
He will be only the fourth president to throw out the ball in the game - "joining John F. Kennedy (1962), Richard Nixon ('70) and Gerald Ford ('76 and '78), reports MLB.com.
In a statement, MLB Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig said:
"The central theme of the 2009 All-Star Game is community service, celebrating the extraordinary work being done by ordinary people. We are thrilled that we can come together with President Obama, who has encouraged a renewed spirit of national service, and illustrate a call to action in our communities. President Obama will continue a great tradition that joins our nation's leader and the national pastime."
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