--- description: President Obama will mark the 100th anniversary of the presidential first pitch at Monday's Phillies-Nationals game. A look back, from Taft to the two Bushes title: A Brief History of Presidential Opening-Day Pitches image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) # A Brief History of Presidential Opening-Day Pitches by [TIME](/author/time/) Apr 2, 2010 4:00 AM CUT by [TIME](/author/time/) Apr 2, 2010 4:00 AM CUT President Obama will mark the 100th anniversary of the presidential first pitch at Monday’s Phillies-Nationals game. A look back, from Taft to the two Bushes ### The Inaugural Pitch  On April 14, 1910, a portly, mustachioed Commander in Chief slowly emerged from the stadium bleachers in Washington, D.C. The crowd cheered as President William Howard Taft delivered the first pitch from his seat at the Washington Senators' opener. An American tradition was born. Bettmann / Corbis ### Tradition Continues  President Woodrow Wilson continued the tradition set by his predecessor Taft and tossed the first ball at the Washington Senators' 1916 season opener. The previous year, Wilson — a devoted baseball fan — was the first sitting President to attend a World Series game, where he also threw the opening pitch. Corbis ### Hissing at Hoover  On April 14, 1931, the crowd at the Washington Senators' season opener grumbled as President Herbert Hoover pitched the ball toward the diamond. Fans reportedly shouted "We want beer" at the Prohibition-era President. Hoover experienced a similar response later that year at the World Series, where Babe Ruth's opposition to the President sparked boos from attendees. Underwood & Underwood / Corbis ### Eight-Ball  In 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt tossed the first pitch for the Washington Senators' Opening Day. While the President took some heat four years later for a toss that struck a photojournalist's camera, Roosevelt was well known as a baseball fan, so much so that he asked the game's élite to continue playing during the Great Depression and World War II. In total, Roosevelt threw eight opening-day pitches — the most of any President. The New York Times / Redux ### Strike from Ike  In 1953, baseball fans did not like Ike. That year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower skipped opening day for a game of golf. The opener was postponed due to rain, and Eisenhower later threw the first pitch at the rescheduled match. Corbis ### Reagan Returns to Wrigley  In 1988, President Ronald Reagan rooted for Chicago. And rightly so. A former Chicago Cubs broadcaster, Reagan delivered the first pitch at the Cubs' season opener, then stepped off the Wrigley mound and joined Harry Caray in the booth to announce the first part of the game. Rogers Photo Archive / Getty Images ### Bulldog in Baltimore  President George H.W. Bush played baseball while a student at Yale University. On April 6, 1992, however, the former Bulldog star delivered a subpar, ground-ball pitch at the Baltimore Orioles' new stadium, Camden Yards. The look on his face says it all. J. Scott Applewhite / AP ### Clinton Delivers to the Catcher  Sporting Baltimore's signature orange bird, President Bill Clinton threw the first pitch at the Orioles' match against the Texas Rangers in 1993\. That year, Clinton was one of the first Presidents to successfully deliver a pitch from the mound to the team's catcher. Scott Wachter / TIME-Life Pictures ### Back in the District  In 2005, after a 33-year baseball absence from the nation's capital, George W. Bush brought the presidential tradition back when he threw the first pitch at the Nationals' home opener. Bush also tossed out the opening pitch at the Nationals' new ballpark in Washington, D.C., above, ahead of the 2008 season opener. Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7078479/a-brief-history-of-presidential-opening-day-pitches/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7078479/a-brief-history-of-presidential-opening-day-pitches/"},"headline":"A Brief History of Presidential Opening-Day Pitches","datePublished":"2010-04-02T04:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T10:46:06.519Z","description":"President Obama will mark the 100th anniversary of the presidential first pitch at Monday's Phillies-Nationals game. 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