Presidents and Baseball: Donald Trump and the National Pastime
President Donald Trump attended game 5 of the World Series in Washington DC on Sunday night, though he did not throw out the first pitch. The President was greeted with both cheers and boos from the crowd. His appearance came on the same day that the President announced that American troops had killed ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the world's most wanted terrorist. The President and first lady Melania Trump sat in a suite behind home plate at Nationals Park. They were joined by some Republican members of Congress, including Senator Lindsey Graham, and Representatives Steve Scalise and Matt Gaetz. Unfortunately, the President's appearance didn't help the hometown Senators who lost their third game in a row after winning the first two games in Houston.
President Trump's history as a baseball fan goes back to his support of the New York Yankees. The team figured into a poem that a 12 year old Donald Trump wrote about his love of the sport. The poem was published in the school yearbook. The future president wrote:
"I like to hear the crowd give cheers,
So loud and noisy to my ears.
When the score is 5-5, I feel like I could cry.
And when they get another run, I feel like I could die.
Then the catcher makes an error,
Not a bit like Yogi Berra.
The game is over and we say,
Tomorrow is another day."
In the 1970s when the Yankees contemplated a move to East Rutherford, New Jersey, Donald Trump supported the proposed move. But the team stayed put. Trump appeared regularly at Yankee Stadium, often alongside former New York mayor and his early political backer Rudy Giuliani. In the 1980s, he was the owner of the New Jersey Generals of the short-lived United States Football League.
Years earlier, in 1959. a young Donald Trump enrolled at the New York Military Academy in 1959 as an eighth grader. Trump lived in Wright Hall and played baseball there where his coach was Major Theodore Dobias. The President had fond memories of his baseball playing days. He told an MTV interviewer, "I was captain of the baseball team. I was supposed to be a professional baseball player. Fortunately, I decided to go into real estate instead. I played first base and I also played catcher. I was a good hitter. I just had a good time."
Opposing teams liked to shift their fielders because Trump was a pull hitter who usually hit the ball to the left side of the field. Trump's classmate Nicholas Kass recalled "If he had hit the ball to right, he could've had a home run because no one was there, but he always wanted to hit the ball through people. He wanted to overpower them." The future president was very competitive. After once making an out, he smashed neighbor Jeff Bier's Adirondack bat on the pavement. The bat cracked, but Trump appeared unconcerned and did not apologize for breaking his friend's bat. When the Rawlings company began making baseball gloves with intricate webbing, Trump's teammmate Peter Brant persuaded his father to help pay for the $30 glove (about $250 in today's dollars). Donald Trump asked his father Fred Trump to buy him a glove like that, but Fred refused to do so.
A former teacher of Trump's told Rolling Stone Magazine that the future President was once scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies. Another report claims that the Boston Red Sox also scouted him. Trump claimed that he was not interested in a baseball career, preferring to make "real money".
Shortly before his inauguration, on January 9, 2017, the then President-elect met with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in a meeting arranged by Yankees President Randy Levine. Trump told Manfred that he was "a great baseball fan". However, he did not appear to pay much attention to the sport during his first few years in the White House. He did take time to criticize the NFL for a number of things he found wrong with the football league. Baseball did become the subject of one of his tweets after Game 4 of the 2018 World Series, when he criticized Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts for how he used his bullpen. Trump blamed Roberts for his team's loss. In response, Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill replied, "There was a mass shooting yesterday. The focus, in my opinion, of the president is to be on the country, and not on moves that are made in a World Series game."
The President has had support from some present and former MLB players. He supported Curt Schilling's candidacy for the Hall of Fame in January 2019. Schilling had been a vocal supporter of the Trump campaign in 2016. Other players and former players supporting the Trump campaign include Johnny Damon, Clay Buchholz, Paul O'Neill and John Rocker.
Earlier this year, on April 8, 2019, President Trump revoked an agreement reached a few months earlier by Major League Baseball with the Cuban Baseball Federation, as a result of breakthroughs in the U.S.'s relations with Cuba achieved by President Barack Obama's Administration. The agreement allowed for a formal process for Cuban players to join Organized Baseball. President Trump objected to transfer fees being paid to the Cuban Federation as part of the agreement.
On September 16, 2019, President Trump presented former Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award that can be bestowed upon a person by the United States government. A statement on the White House website read: "Off the field, through the Mariano Rivera Foundation, he has helped provide children in need with an education, empowering them to achieve a better future. The United States proudly honors Mariano Rivera for being a legend of the game of baseball and for his commitment to strengthening America's communities."
When President Trump's attendance was announced at Sunday night's World Series game and he was shown on the big screen at Nationals Park on Sunday night, baseball fans from the strongly Democratic District of Columbia greeted the president with loud boos and jeers. Sections of the ballpark chanted "Lock him up", a turn on Trump's chant against Hillary Clinton that was commonly heard at his rallies during the 2016 presidential election. Later in the game, some fans seated behind home plate unfurled a banner which read "VETERANS FOR IMPEACHMENT".
In a press conference held before the game, Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of Trump: "He's coming to the game. He's a fan. Hopefully he cheers for the Washington Nationals, and I hope he enjoys the game." But while President Calvin Coolidge proved to be a good luck charm for the Washington Senators of 1924, the current President could not bring the same luck to the current Washington team. The Nationals ended up losing to the Houston Astros by a score of 7-1. They now trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
President Trump's history as a baseball fan goes back to his support of the New York Yankees. The team figured into a poem that a 12 year old Donald Trump wrote about his love of the sport. The poem was published in the school yearbook. The future president wrote:
"I like to hear the crowd give cheers,
So loud and noisy to my ears.
When the score is 5-5, I feel like I could cry.
And when they get another run, I feel like I could die.
Then the catcher makes an error,
Not a bit like Yogi Berra.
The game is over and we say,
Tomorrow is another day."
In the 1970s when the Yankees contemplated a move to East Rutherford, New Jersey, Donald Trump supported the proposed move. But the team stayed put. Trump appeared regularly at Yankee Stadium, often alongside former New York mayor and his early political backer Rudy Giuliani. In the 1980s, he was the owner of the New Jersey Generals of the short-lived United States Football League.
Years earlier, in 1959. a young Donald Trump enrolled at the New York Military Academy in 1959 as an eighth grader. Trump lived in Wright Hall and played baseball there where his coach was Major Theodore Dobias. The President had fond memories of his baseball playing days. He told an MTV interviewer, "I was captain of the baseball team. I was supposed to be a professional baseball player. Fortunately, I decided to go into real estate instead. I played first base and I also played catcher. I was a good hitter. I just had a good time."
Opposing teams liked to shift their fielders because Trump was a pull hitter who usually hit the ball to the left side of the field. Trump's classmate Nicholas Kass recalled "If he had hit the ball to right, he could've had a home run because no one was there, but he always wanted to hit the ball through people. He wanted to overpower them." The future president was very competitive. After once making an out, he smashed neighbor Jeff Bier's Adirondack bat on the pavement. The bat cracked, but Trump appeared unconcerned and did not apologize for breaking his friend's bat. When the Rawlings company began making baseball gloves with intricate webbing, Trump's teammmate Peter Brant persuaded his father to help pay for the $30 glove (about $250 in today's dollars). Donald Trump asked his father Fred Trump to buy him a glove like that, but Fred refused to do so.
A former teacher of Trump's told Rolling Stone Magazine that the future President was once scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies. Another report claims that the Boston Red Sox also scouted him. Trump claimed that he was not interested in a baseball career, preferring to make "real money".
Shortly before his inauguration, on January 9, 2017, the then President-elect met with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in a meeting arranged by Yankees President Randy Levine. Trump told Manfred that he was "a great baseball fan". However, he did not appear to pay much attention to the sport during his first few years in the White House. He did take time to criticize the NFL for a number of things he found wrong with the football league. Baseball did become the subject of one of his tweets after Game 4 of the 2018 World Series, when he criticized Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts for how he used his bullpen. Trump blamed Roberts for his team's loss. In response, Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill replied, "There was a mass shooting yesterday. The focus, in my opinion, of the president is to be on the country, and not on moves that are made in a World Series game."
The President has had support from some present and former MLB players. He supported Curt Schilling's candidacy for the Hall of Fame in January 2019. Schilling had been a vocal supporter of the Trump campaign in 2016. Other players and former players supporting the Trump campaign include Johnny Damon, Clay Buchholz, Paul O'Neill and John Rocker.
Earlier this year, on April 8, 2019, President Trump revoked an agreement reached a few months earlier by Major League Baseball with the Cuban Baseball Federation, as a result of breakthroughs in the U.S.'s relations with Cuba achieved by President Barack Obama's Administration. The agreement allowed for a formal process for Cuban players to join Organized Baseball. President Trump objected to transfer fees being paid to the Cuban Federation as part of the agreement.
On September 16, 2019, President Trump presented former Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award that can be bestowed upon a person by the United States government. A statement on the White House website read: "Off the field, through the Mariano Rivera Foundation, he has helped provide children in need with an education, empowering them to achieve a better future. The United States proudly honors Mariano Rivera for being a legend of the game of baseball and for his commitment to strengthening America's communities."
When President Trump's attendance was announced at Sunday night's World Series game and he was shown on the big screen at Nationals Park on Sunday night, baseball fans from the strongly Democratic District of Columbia greeted the president with loud boos and jeers. Sections of the ballpark chanted "Lock him up", a turn on Trump's chant against Hillary Clinton that was commonly heard at his rallies during the 2016 presidential election. Later in the game, some fans seated behind home plate unfurled a banner which read "VETERANS FOR IMPEACHMENT".
In a press conference held before the game, Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of Trump: "He's coming to the game. He's a fan. Hopefully he cheers for the Washington Nationals, and I hope he enjoys the game." But while President Calvin Coolidge proved to be a good luck charm for the Washington Senators of 1924, the current President could not bring the same luck to the current Washington team. The Nationals ended up losing to the Houston Astros by a score of 7-1. They now trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.