Boo Me In St. Louis

Obama gets booed at the All Star Game even before delivering a weak first pitch.  Too bad - a lefty who can throw strikes will have a long career.

Viewers at home attributed the booing to the White Sox jacket, but what was with the Fox camera angle that excluded the plate?  Geez, I would expect that sort of cover-up at MSNBC.

The Times has some great Presidential first-pitch trivia, including this bit of bipartisanship from the guy who may have been our most athletic President:

President Gerald R. Ford also tossed two first pitches [Nixon threw one to each catcher in 1970], but took it up a notch by throwing one right-handed to Bench and one left-handed to Carlton Fisk.

OH, YOU MEAN THERE WAS A GAME, TOO?  Derek Jeter scored the first run and Mariano got the last out, so all was well with the world.

GO0D POINT: 

It's not easy to throw a 60-foot strike when you have to lob it over the teleprompter.

Comments

[PaulL]

Here's the footage of the "pitch" you want to see. Starts at 24 seconds in. LUN

(h/t Corner)

[bad]

Someone post a picture of those fantastic jeans he wore.

No one should miss seeing those jeans.

[MayBee]

I am the world's worst softball/baseball player, so I can have no fun at his expense there.

The jeans were a miss, though. Last night people were calling them mom jeans, and Jake Tapper asked if the jeans were Bugle Boy.

[Thomas Collins]

I think bad's comment on the prior thread sums it up perfectly, so I am reprinting it below:

It's a huge stretch to call that desperation lob a "pitch."

[peter]

Papelbon gave up some long fly balls, too, only to be bailed out by Carl Crawford. There is the real, and then there are poseurs.

[bad]

Thanks, Thomas Collins.

I played second base on a boy's softball team in high school.

No one threw like that.

[Jane]

I bet he spent hours practicing.

[bad]

O/T

WaPo editorial accuses the president of pretending that a surtax on the rich can pay for health reform when the numbers say it can't.

LUN

[bad]

Maybe John Kerry coached him, Jane...

[matt]

Throw the bum out!

[Old Lurker]

Drudge says Healthcare is happening in weeks. Bad's right, WaPo and WSJ both trace the cost numbers and cry foul. WSJ in particular traces the cost on small to medium businesses (the ones that create jobs) so you can kiss any hope of recovery goodbye.

[Bronze oBomber]

Give the guy a break. The only throwing experience he had was when Bill Ayers taught him how to throw a molotov cocktail.
You can read about it in Dreams From My Bomber.

[Fresh Air]

WUSSY-GATE!

[Neo]

I went to the 1976 All-Star game in Philadelphia. I had "standing room only" tickets at the top of Veterans' Stadium.
There was this announcement that President Ford would throw out the first pitch and then the figure (about the size of a small ant from my view) trodded onto the field, it appeared (perhaps) that a ball was thrown, and the figure left the field. The last I saw of him was the motorcade leaving just before the 7th inning (great view from the top of the Vet).

Was it a good pitch or bad pitch ?? I have no idea.

[daveinboca]

Greta Van S showed her first pitch at the Mets game and she had a better windup and fastball than the Won. He should stick to B-ball, the one with the net.

[GMax]

I would say that Obama throw like a girl, but as Hit knows first hand, my daughter is a seriously gifted athlete. Despite not playing softball growing, I am highly confident that she would not one hop it, espcially when standing IN FRONT of the mound. Its only 60 feet 6 inches from the mound btw. From in front approx 50 feet.

Embarassing for anyone other than a narcissist.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Embarrassing for anyone other than a narcissist.

He's all right, then.

[SaveFarris]

Barry pitched, St. Louis bitched...

[Steve]

Great post! Keep up the excellent work!!
COMMON CENTS
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com

ps. Link Exchange??

[DebinNC]

Politico includes tidbits of BO in the booth doing his patented "take no position" shtick about AL/NL superiority. And how many average guys would say, especially to a national audience, "My wife thinks I look cute in this jacket"?

[MayBee]

Steve- I bet Joyce Kane would do a link exchange with you. IYKWIMAITTYD

[Old Lurker]

MayBee! :-)

[bad]

Go to Drudge and look at athe healthcare beurocratic nightmare House Dims are wanting to inflict on us.

Typhuspad refuses to let me post the link.

[jean]

Baseball is the ultimate white middle class sport.These are the people Obama is trying to keep in his corner.You would think his PR people would have better sense than to let him go out and make a fool out of himself.99% of american males 70% of females can judge for themselves how bad that throw was.This isn't something that calls for "elite" help.I would assume there is a lot of laughing at Obamas expense today

[PeterUK]

The White House and Congress are trying to cover the 46 million uninsured Americans and rein in health care costs. Can't be done,but the third world is going to cheering.

[Fresh Air]

PUK--

It especially can't be done because about 30 million out of the "46 million uninsured" are that way by choice.

BTW, could you give us an update on Crash Gordon? Has he bounced any cricket balls en route to the bowling crease?

[Old Lurker]

Interesting, no post with a link to that chart will post...

Anyway, FA & PUK, even by their own numbers 30+M will remain uninsured even before accounting for the economic destruction that is certain to follow.

[hit and run]

TM:
OH, YOU MEAN THERE WAS A GAME, TOO? Derek Jeter scored the first run and Mariano got the last out, so all was well with the world.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=ArAo5ZDVcQeBRovWxdRWZFERvLYF?slug=ap-obama-firstpitch&prov=ap&type=lgns>Well:

After arriving in St. Louis, Mays and Obama walked off the plane arm-in-arm, and headed to the ballpark.

Obama first visited the NL’s clubhouse. Known for trash talking on the basketball court, he saved a little bit for the locker room. ...

Next stop was the AL clubhouse, where he gibed Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter for being so old ... In return, Jeter laughingly chased the president, but couldn't catch the 47 year old smoker.

Wow.

[PeterUK]

bad,Is that the link?

[Rick Ballard]

Great economic news! Industrial capacity utilization continues to get worse at a slower pace. Boy, Ogabe is making sure that there is plenty of room for expanding production without any need for new facilities.

[Dave (in MA)]

First, I'd like to thank Derek and Mariano for helping to give the Sox the home advantage in the World Series.

Second, I think Øbama should be cut some slack. That was a halfway decent Eephus right there. It's not easy to throw a 60-foot strike when you have to lob it over the teleprompter.

[Jane]

Maybe we can introduce Steve (great site) to Joyce Kane

[Jane]

Geez Maybee, I should have read before I posted.

[PeterUK]

Fresh Air,
It won't work because free health care creates a demand.As medical treatment and drugs improve more ailments can be "cured" the patient list grows exponentially.Then the state has to ration it.
You only have to look at the NHS here.

I prefer not to discuss Crash Gordon,I have just eaten.

[PeterUK]

"Second, I think Øbama should be cut some slack"

Especially in the crotch of his jeans.No wonder he was running like a fairy.

[Pofarmer]

so you can kiss any hope of recovery goodbye.

Just how many kisses of death can this economy withstand? I count at least 4. Poor economic policy, poor energy policy, poor tax policy, and poor healthcare policy. Any one of them by itself would be a drag What am I missing? This administration is like a black hole for economies.

[Fresh Air]

What am I missing?

- Capital going on strike.
- Owners retiring early.
- Inflation.
- Stifling regulation.
- Higher interest rates.

Now showin: Zero "Chauncey" Hussein Gardner starring in Being There II: The Apocalypse.

[Neo]

Rep. Ed Perlmutter [D-CO7] inserted a provision into the recently passed House climate change bill that would drum up business for "green" banks, such as the one he has invested in and his family and a political donor helped found in San Francisco.

[RichatUF]

bad & OL-

Lets see if I can get the chart:

Good grief. Disregard. It must be because it is in pdf format though Boehner might have the visio file floating on his website somewhere. They must have been working on that all night and its still one ugly chart.

I could just imagine what sort of hurried former ACORN activist Obama would have manning the phones at the "Clinical Preventive Services Taskforce".

[Cam Winston]

Billy Squier called and said that his "Rock Me Tonite" video was less gay than Obama's throwing ability.

[PD]

"My wife thinks I look cute in this jacket"

He forgot to add, "But she's not to happy about me wearing her jeans."

[PD]

*too* happy

[Extraneus]

I hope everyone saw the PJTV thing Steven Crowder did on Canada's health care system.

Here's a link, if not.

[RichatUF]

Pofarmer-

You don't seem to green shootish.

[hit and run]

PD:
"My wife thinks I look cute in this jacket"

He forgot to add, "But she's not to happy about me wearing her jeans."

Uh, Michelle's jeans would have swallowed him. Given their size, I think they were Malia's.

[A.C. McCloud]

Let's see, Obama told Joe Buck in the booth "we're out of money" yet today we see a full court press for nationalized health care, including the threat of passing it with a party line vote.

Obama tells Bob Costas that he fondly remembers "Comminsky Field" while talking about wearing his White Sox jacket.

And somehow Sarah Palin is the moron.

[RichatUF]

Rick-

I'm trying to figure out how the AP would re-write this:

Industrial production decreased 0.4 percent in June after having fallen 1.2 percent in May. For the second quarter as a whole, output fell at an annual rate of 11.6 percent, a more moderate contraction than in the first quarter, when output fell 19.1 percent. Manufacturing output moved down 0.6 percent in June, with declines at both durable and nondurable goods producers. Outside of manufacturing, the output of mines fell 0.5 percent in June, and the output of utilities increased 0.8 percent. The rate of capacity utilization for total industry declined in June to 68.0 percent, a level 12.9 percentage points below its average for 1972-2008. Prior to the current recession, the low over the history of this series, which begins in 1967, was 70.9 percent in December 1982.

And turn it into good news.

[Jack is Back!]

I'm surprised he didn't use one of these to make the pitch. Its the "teleprompter" of pitching.

[Chris]

One of the announcers (can't remeber if it was Buck or McCarver) said on a cutaway to commercial, pre-game, that it was a beautiful night in St. Louis, Mississippi. I kid you not.

McCarthy has a great analysis of the numerous sleights of hand employed by team Barry to keep the embarrassment to a minimum. Truly staggering when you think about it. The White House actually has to stage manage a first pitch.

LUN

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

Associated Pimps for Ogabe inserted this:

The pullbacks figured into a drop in the operating rate at factories, which fell to 64.6 in June, the lowest on records dating to 1948. The previous low was set in May.

in the penultimate graf of a story entitled Industrial activity logs smaller-than-expected dip

I'm just so excited that every day brings us one day closer to the bottom in this best of all possible worlds. The deceleration from Mach 2.6 to Mach 2.599987 is truly breathtaking.

[Ann]

For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?

[hit and run]

Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes:

Because, hard as it is to believe, that is NOT a mirror image of Mariano Rivera.

[jimmyk]

I'd like to thank Derek and Mariano for helping to give the Sox the home advantage in the World Series.

Seems to me the hero was Granderson legging out that triple, which resulted in his scoring the winning run on a sac fly.

The other funny thing about Obama's pitch was how he did this big windup thing beforehand, and then jogged toward the plate afterwards as if he had really nailed it. And yes, that "pitch" was a definite girly push, with apologies to the many young ladies who can throw much better than that.

[Rick Ballard]

C'mon now - how was he supposed to learn to throw a baseball when he was spending all his time as a child perfecting the muslim call to prayer (in perfect Arabic) at his madrassa?

I'll bet he can roll and tie his prayer rug with close to world class speed.

[Jane]

Reuters (via the Anchoress LUN)has the video of the landing. The catcher caught it on the ground before the plate.

[clarice]

I miss W.

[jean]

Albert plays 1st .He is great at scooping out of the dirt.

[Jane]

I miss him too Clarice.

[jean]

W is wearing Cowboy boots.No wonder Texans love him

[hit and run]

Now, of course, I would be the first to say that there is no shame in not being good at any particular thing, and Obama should feel no shame (not that he is familiar with the feeling) about his throwing style, any more than he should feel shame about not being able to bowl or not being able to govern.

But, he should feel shame were he to be say pulling in a $10M salary as a major league pitcher -- and likewise he should feel shame if he were say the president of the United States.

But anything short of that and he'll be fine.

What?

Oh, carp.

[RichatUF]

I'm stealing the chart from Wizbang:

Yikes!

[J.R.]

Michelle trots around in $500 sneakers and uses a $6000 purse. You think the One could afford something more than a $10 pair of jeans. I wonder if they had an elastic waist band?

Also, a truly horrid pitch. Made even worse by the fist pump afterwards. He should be embarassed. That being said, it's just a damn pitch.

[hit and run]

Wait...from the WSJ twitter:

BREAKING NEWS: Fed upgrades economic projections and expects recesion to end "before long," minutes show.

Define "long" and work back, I guess.

[RichatUF]

H&R-

It has to end eventually-right? FOMC minutes but I didn't see in there the numbers they upgraded there forecast to, though they did say in the minutes that the outlook has improved.

Curious.

[Old Lurker]

"It has to end eventually-right?"

Why?

[bad]

Thanks for posting that chart, Rich. My eyes glaze over looking at it.

Wonder how many will forgo treatment rather than try to navigate that maze?

[RichatUF]

upgraded there forecast -> upgraded their forecast

[RichatUF]

bad, isn't that the point.

[Mike Myers]

No surprise he threw from the left and missed the target. So what else is new in the Obama Administration?

[Dave (in MA)]

Chris

One of the announcers (can't remeber if it was Buck or McCarver) said on a cutaway to commercial, pre-game, that it was a beautiful night in St. Louis, Mississippi. I kid you not.

Are you sure they didn't say "on the Mississippi"?

[bad]

Sadly, yes, Rich.

[Chris]

Dave,
Could be but my gf heard it too. Will see what I can dig up. I thought to myself at the time that no one could make that big of a gaffe.

[MeTooThen]

TM

Just got back from the game. We sat in right center field. Had an amazing view of Crawford's catch.

Obama was cheered and jeered, as was reported by Reuters. As for the jeers being because of his White Sox jacket, um, no.

Mark Buehrle (White Sox pitcher) was loudly cheered. The only thing "Chicago" that gets booed in St. Louis is anything Cubs. And booed is too mild a word.

Before the game there were taped messages from all the living POTUS. W. got a huge ovation. WJC, GHWB, and James Earl Carter, Jr. also was (surprisingly cheered.) W. got the loudest cheers though.

And no, the pitch feel short of the plate. Albert Pujols wisely and graciously scooped it up from dropping in front of the plate.

El Hombre!

The coolest part of the game was the B2 fly-over. Suddenly there was this weird rumble and then within a second or two this huge black wing-bat-thing appeared right over our heads. It's amazingly quiet. (D'uh! It's a stealth bomber!) It was incredibly terrifying and sinister looking, and thank God, it's on our side. I was so surprised as to how it appeared I accidently turned my camera off instead of taking the photo, still managed to get a blurry shot of it, though.

The game was also seemingly sponsored by serve.gov Their adds were everywhere on the score boards.

Anyway, Barack Hussein Obama II couldn't quite deliver from the mound.

And the Junior Circuit is 13 for the last 13.

Sigh.

[RichatUF]

Old Lurker-

I'm just trying to improve my mood. It isn't working.

[Pofarmer]

Pofarmer-

You don't seem to green shootish.

Yeah, I'm trying really hard not to go too negative. Corn has slipped below cost of production. Fat cattle prices seem perennially in the toilet, even with shrinking supplies. The hay market for John and Jane Doe Horserider ain't looking too sweet either. I'm diversified, but everything sucks. I probably should get off the blogs and go work and try to get my spirits up, but it rains every other damn day and I can't do much of anything in the mud.

And, to top it off, I just had a Turkish Muslim(nice guy) come out to butcher a heifer that had broken a leg. Now, he's kinda seen this all before. His take is that we're in deep doo doo. He says the farmer will be last to feel it, and this fall is the time. His take is that the big Wall Street houses and the Big Banks have got out of balance, and their greed is destroying the system. It's as good a take as any, and he's seen it before in his birth country. He's not optimistic either.

[hit and run]

After further review, I have come to my final decision.

I've watched the tape repeatedly, and even managed to make it through it several times without doubling over in laughter. I've tried to evaluate what age group would be appropriate for his skill level, however without seeing whether he can swing a bat and make contact on a pitched ball, I cannot faithfully report on whether he should be placed above t-ball level based upon his throwing alone. I've tried to determine in my mind who he should be compared to, but in each instance determined that such a comparison would be unfair to that person or group. I really can't even tell if he could properly shag fly balls during batting practice, protect pitchers in exposed bullpens, or even perform the basic duty of a bat boy, retrieving a stationary object and returning it to its proper place.

And yet, the one conclusion I can confidently and unhesitatingly make: Obama is still a better baseball pitcher than he is president.

[bad]

Unemployment is worse than the numbers show. Normally, most of the 16 year old high school kids in my sphere have jobs and they don't this year.

And there are more soon-to-be college kids than usual who don't have jobs.

[PD]

"Also, a truly horrid pitch. Made even worse by the fist pump afterwards."

I agree. That look of self-satisfaction to go with the fist pump was stunning. As though saying to himself, "Hey, look how great I did," apparently unaware of how truly bad it was.

No wonder after a month in office he was able to say with a straight face that he's "pretty good at being president."

[bad]

No wonder after a month in office he was able to say with a straight face that he's "pretty good at being president."

BURRRRRRRRRRNNN!!

[bad]

Ed Whelan at THe Corner:

President Obama says he’s a longtime fan of the Chicago White Sox, but he calls Comiskey Park “Cominskey.” And Judge Sotomayor, in her testimony yesterday, asserted that “Few judges could claim they love baseball more than I do” and that she “grew up … watching baseball.” But a March 28, 1995, story in USA Today, titled “U.S. District judge not a baseball fan,” stated that Sotomayor “grew up a few miles from Yankee Stadium but says she knows little about the sport.” And yesterday she said that “many residents of Washington, D.C. have asked me to look at the Senators” as her new team. But as even a casual baseball fan would know, the D.C. team is the Nationals, not the Senators.

Ibama and SoSo are soul mates...

[bad]

"Ibama and SoSo are soulmates" are my words, not Whalens.

[Old Lurker]

Bloomberg reports that the Health Care surtax will apply to Capital Gains too.

[Old Lurker]

Bad, Mort Zukerman did a good rehash of the real employment numbers yesterday. When you hear "9.5%", think 16.5%. LUN

[Old Lurker]

Zuckerman...

[PeterUK]

Mr Ballard,

"I'll bet he can roll and tie his prayer rug with close to world class speed."

There is a legend in the East of Hussein al Camelfisted the Mook of the Madrassa.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Dave in Mass says:

I think Øbama should be cut some slack. That was a halfway decent Eephus right there. It's not easy to throw a 60-foot strike when you have to lob it over the teleprompter.

He's right on, per this Wikipedia article:

The Eephus pitch is thrown overhand like most pitches, but is characterized by an unusual high arcing trajectory and corresponding slow velocity, bearing more resemblance to a slow-pitch softball delivery than to a traditional baseball pitch. It is considered a trick pitch because, in comparison to normal baseball pitches (which run from 70 to 100 miles per hour), an Eephus pitch appears to move in slow motion (55 miles per hour or less).

I would bet, thought that when pitchers throw an Eephus pitch they get it to the catcher who is not sitting on the plate.

When I saw it on live tv, it looked ok. But when I saw the replay with the camera angle behind the mound, it was frighteningly incompetent. I thought Kerry would be the worst I'd ever see. He wasn't.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

off

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Should have said:

Dave in Mass says:

I think Øbama should be cut some slack. That was a halfway decent Eephus right there. It's not easy to throw a 60-foot strike when you have to lob it over the teleprompter.

He's right on, per this Wikipedia article:

The Eephus pitch is thrown overhand like most pitches, but is characterized by an unusual high arcing trajectory and corresponding slow velocity, bearing more resemblance to a slow-pitch softball delivery than to a traditional baseball pitch. It is considered a trick pitch because, in comparison to normal baseball pitches (which run from 70 to 100 miles per hour), an Eephus pitch appears to move in slow motion (55 miles per hour or less).

I would bet, thought that when pitchers throw an Eephus pitch they get it to the catcher who is not sitting on the plate.

When I saw it on live tv, it looked ok. But when I saw the replay with the camera angle behind the mound, it was frighteningly incompetent. I thought Kerry would be the worst I'd ever see. He wasn't.

[bad]

Thanks, Old Lurker. Several people on our street have given up their housekeeping and lawn service even though their jobs are not in danger. Eating out less, as well.

Folks are hunkering down.

[Dave (in MA)]

Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet, I can appreciate your counterpoint to my post, but no need. I was simply making yet another dumb teleprompter joke. ;^)

[R.J. Torre]

"Just one minute!" . . . . Is this a variation of the Pentagon's "Don't ask. Don't tell" policy? . . . "Don't ask about his birth, cause we'll never tell." ; )

[Caro]

"Ibama and SoSo are soulmates"
SoSo is soooo appropriate, Bad. And I knew they were your hilarious words.

[Sue]

According to Iain Murray at NRO, Waxman-Markey has "parked" in the senate due to the number of people calling their representatives to thank them for voting on a bill that will cause their electricity bills to skyrocket, or similar words. If you haven't already, contact your congresscritters!

[flodigarry]

It's bad enough that Obama called the White Sox' former venue "Cominsky" (rhymes with Alinsky), but he also used "Field" (as in Wrigley) rather than "Park". Yeah, O - keep on spouting about what a die hard Sox fan you are.

[William Teach]

Way late chiming in, but, regarding the boo's, consider, this is the All Star game. How many fans in the seats were actually from St. Louis? Tends to be quite a few folks from around the country at these types of games.

[jokiek]

St. Louis is still in habited by trash?

http://FilthyRichmond.com is teh taint.

Good to know.

[Jimbob]

Jobs are a gift from business. It is not created due to a demand of a product and needing production.

We need to cut taxes on people making over 300,000 dollars a year to 0% Then, we'll all have jobs and we will be able to cheer for the rich for being ever so kind to us.

By the way, Reagan was quite fond of teleprompters, as was every other fucking presidents since fucking Nixon. God damn, you people are fucking idiots. Fucking stupid idiots. How do you guys even fucking breathe?

[eaharris]

Oh yeah, THIS is what's important right now. Not the 2 wars certainly. Baseball, mom jeans.

[you can ask what happened to the Fierce Urgency of Now, but you'll get no ANSWER]

We need to cut taxes on people making over 300,000 dollars a year to 0%

It seems only fair, that's the most common income tax rate in the country. (I mean "fair" in the anachronistic sense of extending the same treatment towards everyone, not the modern sense of inflicting vengeance on those who have the temerity to manage greater material success than I do.)

How do you guys even fucking breathe?

We stay upwind of you, jimmy.

Oh yeah, THIS is what's important right now.

No, this is what was important four days ago. But if you'd like to raise massive protests against the war, give it a try. It's still a free country, in some respects. I should warn you that the protesting crowd seems to have Moved On for some reason.

[none so blind as those who embrace govt-sponsored eye care, of course, but much of the country is starting to see clearly]

I take that back, Obama's inability to throw a baseball is still important. It's a symbol of his separation from most of America, like ostentatiously not wearing a flag pin or reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, talking about his affection for Kaminskiy Field and the Nitally Lions, not knowing the purpose of Memorial Day, consorting with terrorists and black nationalists, "profit and earnings ratios", "bitter clingers", etc etc etc.

All these things are important because symbolism is important, and these symbols have more meaning than all the Soviet Realist posters, Pepsi-themed logos, and fake Greek columns your guy parades around, because they reveal rather than obscure his true nature.