Major League Baseball's All-Star game last night was marred by the presence of Barack Obama, whose omnipresent visage and voice were given ample, repeated coverage by Fox Sports. I cannot for the life of me figure out what MLB and Fox were thinking.
In any event, the president threw the first pitch. As we watched last night, several things became clear.
First, Obama throws like a girl.
Second, the pitch that he threw soared high into the air, and its downward trajectory fell far short of where it was supposed to drop. When I was a kid, we used to call this type of pitch a "Folly Floater".
In any event, Obama's appearance on the mound was an apt metaphor for his foreign policy.
The Folly Floater back when I was young was rarely used; but seriously threw off the timing of the hitter. Phil Rizzuto calls one example:
In any event, the president threw the first pitch. As we watched last night, several things became clear.
First, Obama throws like a girl.
Second, the pitch that he threw soared high into the air, and its downward trajectory fell far short of where it was supposed to drop. When I was a kid, we used to call this type of pitch a "Folly Floater".
In any event, Obama's appearance on the mound was an apt metaphor for his foreign policy.
The Folly Floater back when I was young was rarely used; but seriously threw off the timing of the hitter. Phil Rizzuto calls one example:
Joe: "Major League Baseball's All-Star game last night was marred by the presence of Barack Obama..."
He's the President of the United States. That "mars" a baseball game because you didn't vote for him? C'mon, Joe. I hardly thought I'd see you write something so... well, "unpatriotic" springs to mind. So do other words less charged.
Let the presumed floodgates of "how could she say that about Joe?" begin.
Posted by: Sue | July 15, 2009 at 12:09 PM
As an old Yankees fan, I have to admit that Steve Hamilton threw like a girl.
Posted by: Doug Clark | July 15, 2009 at 12:15 PM
Since when does criticizing the president become unpatriotic? It seems for some that paying taxes to spread the wealth is patriotic, but don't dare criticize the prez.
Biden said: "It's time to be patriotic ... time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut."
"We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people," Biden said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Obama's appearance might not have been so terrible except his huge ego drives him to be on television every day of the year. Talk about being grossly over-exposed.
At least, Joe, they are calling you unpatriotic now, rather than a racist. I suppose that is progress.
By the way, did he use a teleprompter when he was commenting in the press box during the game?
Posted by: Stormy | July 15, 2009 at 12:31 PM
was it better than this pitch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr2X5zEazKk&feature=related
Posted by: triadwatch | July 15, 2009 at 12:45 PM
Sue, it was just my opinion. It was too much. And when he walked out to throw the first pitch, there were lots of boos mixed in with the cheers at the stadium.
Doug, I know you are joking, but it is certainly possible to throw the folly floater with good form. Obama did not. I caught Rush a short while ago, and he also called it a "girlie-toss".
Stormy, if I were one of the MLB players at the game last night, I would have looked at the president, and wondered to myself how much of my earnings he lusts over.
Posted by: Joe Guarino | July 15, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Keith, I wonder why he bothered to try.:)
Posted by: Joe Guarino | July 15, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Now, here is a real Mr. Ceremonial First Pitch Thrower Outer. Obama's pitch was a little better than this one, but not a Real Man of Genius (although he would like for us to think so). After all, what is it that O can't do, well, other than talk without a teleprompter?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eDzJ_K9i_0
Posted by: Stormy | July 15, 2009 at 01:01 PM
Count me in on the floodgates.
Joe, you can't have an opinion that doesn't agree with Mama Sue's.
While we're playing the faux-outrage card, as a girl who throws like a girl, I'm just a little bit insulted over the "Obama throws like a girl" remark.
I demand a statment of regret;)
Posted by: Dr. Mary Johnson | July 15, 2009 at 01:34 PM
Mary, you might be interested to know that when Obama made his pitch live, Fox manipulated the camera views so that we could not see where the pitch landed. I wondered if this was pre-arranged.
And Rush today presented a series of audio clips from various MSM media sources that represented the pitch as being absolutely great. But in fact, the pitch fizzled.
Posted by: Joe Guarino | July 15, 2009 at 01:53 PM
"Sue, it was just my opinion. It was too much. And when he walked out to throw the first pitch, there were lots of boos mixed in with the cheers at the stadium."
Considering what he's done to American culture and institutions in just a few month, he was lucky there were only a few boos. The number and volume of those boos will continue to increase apace as his destructive course grows.
As someone actively pursuing the destruction of American strength, culture and values, Obama's presence at a showcase event of the national pasttime did much more than merely "mar" the event. His presence was an insult.
Since when do minor leaguers get to participate in the MLB tradition?
Posted by: Bubba | July 15, 2009 at 03:09 PM
Bubba, there were more than just a few boos. I couldn't tell the percentage of boos, and would not say it was necessarily greater than 50%; but there were plenty.
Posted by: Joe Guarino | July 15, 2009 at 03:28 PM
This says it all:
http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/payn090713_03_cmyk20090715063851.jpg
Posted by: Bubba | July 15, 2009 at 06:28 PM
"After all, what is it that O can't do, well, other than talk without a teleprompter?"
Yep, Bubba, I suspect that was the case when I made this comment.
Posted by: Stormy | July 15, 2009 at 07:09 PM
Here is Obama's pitch, in case you missed it. Judge the boos, and see what you can otherwise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI6aPwCESUY&feature=player_embedded
Posted by: Joe Guarino | July 15, 2009 at 09:30 PM