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Donald Trump 'too busy' to throw first baseball pitch of his Presidency

Donald Trump catches a baseball on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC - Getty Images
Donald Trump catches a baseball on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC - Getty Images

It has been a tradition for 110 years, but Donald Trump has announced be will not be able to throw the opening first pitch at New York Yankees baseball game next month.

The president was slated to follow the example of his predecessors and participate in a ceremony dating back to William Howard Taft at the beginning of a clash between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Athletics.

Mr Trump has yet to take to the mound, but was planning to do so on August 15, having been invited to do so by the Yankees owner, Randy Levine. However, with the coronavirus crisis intensifying, Mr Trump has decided to postpone his appearance, despite having boasted of his prowess at the sport.

In 2015 he told MTV he was captain of his high school 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.”

Mr Trump has yet to throw a ceremonial first pitch, even though he has been in the Oval Office since January 2017. His offer to do so this summer was greeted with a measure of hostility by New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio.

Last week Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading coronavirus expert, did throw the first pitch of the baseball season of the game between the Washington Nationals and New York Yankees. It was not desperately accurate with the ball sailing some distance wide of the catcher - which was unfortunate given that he is a big baseball fan.

For many years presidents would lob the ball from the VIP stand. More recently they have marched out to the pitcher’s mound and given it their best shot, with the honours for the best effort probably going to George W Bush, who arrowed the ball with some ferocity right into the catcher’s mitt.