Talk:Ceremonial first pitch

Scoring
I think it would help the article if what this first pitch does for the scoring, or whether it is an official part of the game, etc. for those first-timers to baseball. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.203.30.26 (talk) 20:58, 17 August 2007

"Generally, ceremonial opening pitches are either not counted in the count, or counted as a ball. There is typically no batter." Can someone give even one instance of a ceremonial first pitch counting as a ball? 173.76.235.238 (talk) 02:14, 7 May 2011 (UTC)

Non-Presidential Pitches
I find it strange that the only notable pitches listed are from the past few years, and the list of people contains many names that are hardly noteworthy. Drn8 (talk) 15:12, 30 December 2010 (UTC)


 * I went ahead and removed it. 162 games per season/2 teams at each game x 30 teams = 2,430 games and [at least] 2,430 first pitches. Sorry if my logic is wrong but you get the point. We don't need the list. NYyankees51 (talk) 20:24, 20 April 2011 (UTC)

Pitches by Vice Presidents
Except for 1912 and 1959, I see no other reference to any other Vice President throwing out the opening day ceremonial pitch. It seems that particular column was initially populated based on who was in office that year, not who threw the first pitch. I also say that because there are several years missing from the table. Not sure if the intent is to only post about Presidents who've participated, but I collect old wire photos of opening day pitches, and I have some showing Vice Presidents filling in. I can't account for all years, but those I do have include John N. Garner (1939), Henry A. Wallace (1942) and (1944) , and Hubert Humphrey (1966). First time contributor. Please advise if additional info and/or photo scans are required. Not sure I trust my HTML skills to update the page directly, but have information to contribute. Dv1224 (talk) 17:02, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

President Carter
The body of the article references the fact that every president since Taft, except Jimmy Carter, has thrown out a ceremonial first pitch; however, the table lists President Carter as having thrown one out during the 1979 World Series. Which is correct? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.234.90.30 (talk) 20:46, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Conflicting information
The intro of the article says: "Originally, the guest threw a ball from his/her place in the grandstand to the pitcher or catcher of the home team, but the ritual changed after Ronald Reagan threw the first pitch on the field at an unscheduled appearance at a Baltimore Orioles game."

Then, Bill Clinton's entry on the table says: "Before this, most presidents threw from the stands or at the base of the pitcher's mound; Clinton was the first president to successfully throw from the pitcher's mound to the catcher."

Which is correct? --Surachit (talk) 17:40, 20 June 2015 (UTC)

It is possible that Clinton may have been the first person to "successfully" throw the full distance from the pitcher's mound to a catcher behind home plate, a distance of 60 ft 6 inches (just over 18 meters). Many people who throw ceremonial "first pitches" bounce the ball in front of the plate, or throw wildly off the mark. That may be what the person who posted the information meant. Svaihingen (talk) 00:54, 8 September 2016 (UTC)

Also, it is not true that "originally, the guest threw a ball from the grandstand" until Reagan changed the protocol. There are numerous examples from the 1890s through the 1970s in which people made the "first pitch" on the field of play. It may be that Presidents only threw from the stands until Reagan threw one from the pitcher's mound. If that is true, then the text could be changed to reflect that by moving the comment to the Presidential Pitches section and modifying it accordingly. Svaihingen (talk) 00:58, 8 September 2016 (UTC)

Also consider, the article specifies 3 locations. The "field" consists of all fair and foul territory, the "pitcher's mound" is the round circle with the pitcher's rubber on top, and "the base of the mound" is just that - closer to the plate, but not on the mound. From what I can find, for Reagan's pitches in Baltimore in 86, he thru 3 pitches, one short, one wild, and a strike on the third attempt. I can find no definitive evidence yet that his throw in 1986 was from the mound. In 1984, he was in foul territory. I can find multiple picture of him on a mound and throwing, but mostly with a Cubs jacket on. Sounds like Clinton was successful on his first attempt. Perhaps both Reagan and Clinton references should contain qualifiers. Dv1224 (talk) 18:33, 26 June 2017 (UTC)

Note Associated with Wrong Year
I have a wire photo that contains 8 photographs of Truman throwing out 2 balls, 4 with his right, and 4 with the left. The attached note glued to the back contains the date 4/18/47 (not 1950) and fully reads: INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO WASHINGTON, D.C...PRESIDENT TRUMAN, BILLED AS THE MISSOURI SOUTHPAW, WORKS A CHANGE OF PACE AS HE STAMPS OFFICIAL APPROVAL ON THE YOUNG BASEBALL SEASON AT GRIFFITH STADIUM, WASHINGTON, D.C., TODAY, WHEN THE WASHINGTON SENATORS OPENED THEIR HOME SEASON IN A GAME WITH THE NEW YORK YANKEES. DEMONSTRATING HIS AMBIDEXTROUSNESS, HE IS SEEN IN THE ABOVE SERIES OF MAGIC-EYE PHOTOS TOSSING THE FIRST BALL OUT WITH HIS RIGHT HAND AND THEN TOSSING ANOTHER WITH HIS LEFT. IN THE PHOTOS AT THE LEFT (TOP TO BOTTOM), HE WINDS UP AND FOLLOWS THROUGH WITH THE HEFTY RIGHT-HANDED HEAVE. THE PHOTOS AT RIGHT (TOP TO BOTTOM) SHOW THE TOSS IN HIS BEST SOUTHPAW MANNER. G-4-18-47 PHOTOS BY WALTER BORDAS For collaboration, the Truman Library has a picture showing Truman throwing a ball right-handed and the notes also reference the same date. Dv1224 (talk) 19:36, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

Another Presidential World Series Pitch
I have an old wire photo of FDR throwing out an opening day pitch. The caption is pasted on the back and is in Spanish. The photo has stamped copyright info from "INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTOS, INC." and a date of "10/4/33". The Google translation of the caption is "ROOSEVELT LAUNCHES THE FIRST BALL - Marvin McIntry, Secretary of the Presidency; Cronin, manager of "Washington"; Terry of the "Giants" and Griffith, owner of the first team, surround the President of the United States, by launching the first ball of the 1933 World Series." The caption is also dated Oct 8th, but I'm assuming they just used the date stamped on the photo. But the last game of the series was on the 7th. I have no specific information on which game it's from. Not sure if it's the first game of the series on 10/3, or the first game in Washington, game 3 on 10/5. However, the Baseball Almanac has a page on their site that associates this ceremonial toss with game 3, the "opening game" in Washington. Dv1224 (talk) 17:03, 26 June 2017 (UTC)