Ceremonial first pitch

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President Woodrow Wilson throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, opening day, 1916

President Richard Nixon tossing out first pitch, at Washington Senators' opening game with New York in Washington, D.C. in 1969.

President Ronald Reagan throwing out the first pitch for the first 1988 Chicago Cubs game

President George W. Bush tossing out the ceremonial first pitch for Game 3 of the 2001 World Series

The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of American baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Most often the guest stands in front of the pitcher's mound and throws towards home plate, though sometimes he or she may stand on the mound (as a pitcher would) or throw from his or her seat in the stands. The recipient of the pitch is usually a player from the home team.

The ceremonial pitcher may be a notable person (dignitary, celebrity, former player, etc.) who is in attendance, an executive from a company that sponsors the team (especially when that company has sponsored that night's promotional giveaway), or a person who won the first pitch opportunity as a contest prize. Often, especially in the minor leagues, multiple first pitches are made.

[edit] Presidents and first pitches

President William Howard Taft started the tradition in 1910 at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., on the Washington Senators' Opening Day. Every President since Taft has thrown out at least one ceremonial first pitch, either for Opening Day, the All-Star Game, or the World Series, usually with much fanfare.^[1]

Opening Day First Pitches
Year	Pitcher	Home team	Ballpark	Score	Notes
1910	William Howard Taft	Washington Senators	National Park	Win, 3-0	First Opening Day pitch
1911	William Howard Taft	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 8-5
1912	Vice President James S. Sherman	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 6-0	Taft did not attend due to the death of his friend Archibald Butt in the Titanic disaster.
1913	Woodrow Wilson	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 2-1
1914	Speaker of the House Champ Clark	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 0-5	Wilson declined to attend due to the Veracruz incident
1915	Woodrow Wilson	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 7-0
1916	Woodrow Wilson	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 12-4
1917	Vice President Thomas Marshall	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 4-6	Wilson did not attend due to World War I
1918	Louis Brownlow, Commissioner of the District of Columbia	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 3-6	Wilson did not attend due to World War I
1919	General Peyton C. March	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 1-0	Wilson was attending the Paris Peace Conference.
1920	Vice President Thomas Marshall	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 8-5	Wilson did not attend due to his 1919 stroke
1921	Warren Harding	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 3-6	First loss for the Senators with a President throwing out the first pitch.
1922	Warren Harding	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 6-5
1923	Warren Harding	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 2-1	Harding also threw out the first pitch in the New York Yankees opening game, two days before
1924	Calvin Coolidge	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 4-0
1925	Calvin Coolidge	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 10-1
1926	None	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 1-0	Coolidge did not attend due to the recent death of his father
1927	Calvin Coolidge	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 6-2
1928	Calvin Coolidge	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 5-7
1929	Herbert Hoover	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 4-13
1930	Herbert Hoover	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 3-4
1931	Herbert Hoover	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 3-5
1932	Herbert Hoover	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 1-0
1933	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 4-1
1934	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 0-5
1935	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 3-4
1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 1-0
1937	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 3-4
1938	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 12-8
1939	None	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 3-6	Roosevelt attended a family gathering instead of the game.
1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 0-1	Roosevelt's pitch hit a Washington Post camera.[1]
1941	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 0-3
1942	None	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 0-7	Roosevelt did not attend due to World War II
1943	None	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 7-5	Roosevelt did not attend due to World War II
1944	None	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 2-3	Roosevelt did not attend due to World War II
1945	None	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 0-3	Harry Truman did not attend due to World War II
1946	Harry Truman	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 3-6	First left-handed pitcher
1947	Harry Truman	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 0-7
1948	Harry Truman	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 4-12
1949	Harry Truman	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 3-2
1950	Harry Truman	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 8-7	Truman threw out two pitches, one left-handed and one right-handed.
1951	Harry Truman	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 5-3
1952	Harry Truman	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 0-3
1953	Dwight Eisenhower	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 3-6	Eisenhower skipped Opening Day to play golf at Augusta National, but the game was postponed by rain and he threw out the first pitch at the rescheduled game.
1954	Dwight Eisenhower	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 5-3
1955	Dwight Eisenhower	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 12-5
1956	Dwight Eisenhower	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 4-6
1957	Dwight Eisenhower	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 6-7
1958	Dwight Eisenhower	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 5-2
1959	Dwight Eisenhower	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 7-6
1960	Dwight Eisenhower	Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Win, 10-1
1961	John F. Kennedy	expansion Washington Senators	Griffith Stadium	Loss, 3-4
1962	John F. Kennedy	Washington Senators	D.C. Stadium	Win, 4-1	First pitch in new stadium
1963	John F. Kennedy	Washington Senators	D.C. Stadium	Loss, 1-3
1964	Lyndon Johnson	Washington Senators	D.C. Stadium	Loss, 0-4
1965	Lyndon Johnson	Washington Senators	D.C. Stadium	Loss, 2-7
1966	None	Washington Senators	D.C. Stadium	Loss, 2-5	Johnson did not attend.
1967	Lyndon Johnson	Washington Senators	D.C. Stadium	Loss, 0-8
1968	Vice President Hubert Humphrey	Washington Senators	D.C. Stadium	Loss, 0-2	Opening Day was delayed due to the assassination of Martin Luther King, leaving Johnson unable to attend.
1969	Richard Nixon	Washington Senators	RFK Stadium	Loss, 4-8
1970	David Eisenhower	Washington Senators	RFK Stadium	Loss, 0-5	Nixon was delayed and arrived in the 5th inning; his son-in-law David Eisenhower (son of the former President) threw out the first pitch.
1971	David Pitzer	Washington Senators	RFK Stadium	Win, 8-0	Nixon was unable to attend. Sgt. David Pitzer, a former Prisoner of War, threw out the first pitch.
1973	Richard Nixon	California Angels	Anaheim Stadium	Win, 3-2	First Opening Day held outside of Washington D.C.
1976	Gerald Ford	Texas Rangers	Arlington Stadium	Win, 2-1
1984	Ronald Reagan	Baltimore Orioles	Memorial Stadium	Loss, 2-5
1986	Ronald Reagan	Baltimore Orioles	Memorial Stadium	Loss, 4-6
1988	Ronald Reagan	Chicago Cubs	Wrigley Field	Loss, 9-10	Reagan threw out first two pitches, then participated in the radio broadcast of the game for 1 1/2 innings.
1989	George Bush	Baltimore Orioles	Memorial Stadium	Win, 5-4
1990	George Bush	Toronto Blue Jays	SkyDome	Win, 2-1	First Opening Day pitch to be thrown in Canada.
1991	George Bush	Texas Rangers	Arlington Stadium	Loss, 4-5
1992	George Bush	Baltimore Orioles	Memorial Stadium	Win, 2-0
1993	Bill Clinton	Baltimore Orioles	Oriole Park at Camden Yards	Loss, 4-7	Clinton was the first President to successfully throw from the pitcher's mound to the catcher.
1994	Bill Clinton	Cleveland Indians	Jacobs Field	Win, 4-3
1996	Bill Clinton	Baltimore Orioles	Oriole Park at Camden Yards	Win, 4-2
1997	Bill Clinton	New York Mets	Shea Stadium	Win, 5-0
2000	Bill Clinton	San Francisco Giants	Pac Bell Park	Loss, 4-7	Game was rained out.
2001	George W. Bush	Milwaukee Brewers	Miller Park	Win, 5-4	MLB Commissioner Bud Selig (a former owner of the Brewers) threw out the first pitch to celebrate the opening of the new park; Bush threw the second pitch.
2004	George W. Bush	St. Louis Cardinals	Busch Stadium	Loss, 6-8
2005	George W. Bush	Washington Nationals	RFK Stadium	Win, 5-3	First President to throw out first pitch in Washington since Richard Nixon in 1969.
2006	George W. Bush	Cincinnati Reds	Great American Ballpark	Loss, 7-16
2007	Vice President Dick Cheney	Washington Nationals	RFK Stadium	Loss, 2-4	Bush arrived in the middle of the first inning.
2008	George W. Bush	Washington Nationals	Nationals Park	Win, 3-2	First pitch in new stadium.