President Obama will toss the ceremonial first pitch at the All-Star Game on July 14, Major League Baseball announced yesterday. He’ll be the fourth president to do so, following John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford, and the seventh to attend the game. He’s also got some first-pitch experience; he did the honors for his beloved Chicago White Sox during the 2005 playoffs.
The game is scheduled for St. Louis, where Cardinals manager Tony La Russa says he’s happy to host a sitting president for the second time in recent years (George W. Bush threw the first pitch of the team’s 2004 season). “It’s exciting,” La Russa said. “The only thing is, he’s pulling for the American League.” (More Barack Obama stories.)