Will Obama Avoid Mark Wahlberg First Pitch Tonight?

First pitch jitters

President Obama will throw the first pitch tonight at the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game (Photo: Newsday)

Throwing the first pitch at a Major League Baseball game is a dizzying experience for the uninitiated. Countless celebrities of local, regional, national and international vintage have trotted out to the mound for the photo opportunity, and the vast majority of them have managed to embarrass themselves with heaves that travel anywhere from just a few feet to an area code away. No pay day loans or cheap loans can buy a shovel big enough to dig the size hole the chucker needs to hide in that situation.

And nobody wants to repeat the Mark Wahlberg first pitch

That includes President Barack Obama, who is slated to toe the mound this evening in St. Louis for the first pitch of the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The president has thrown out first pitches before, as you can see in the photo, but each time is something new. There will be about 50,000 fans in attendance at the game, a virtual sea of media with popping flashbulbs, well-wishers and scores of hangers-on nearby, each of them wondering if the president will join the list of those who have first pitched their way into immortality.

So the president will take time to warm up first

Certainly, the crowd doesn’t expect the person throwing the first pitch to pump a 95 mile per hour fastball into a teacup at the knees. It’s a ceremonial thing, and the thrower is given some leeway. But the president doesn’t want that slack to be enough rope to hang himself with. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Will Obama Avoid Mark Wahlberg First Pitch Tonight?"