Taft Becomes First President to Throw First Pitch (4/14/1910)

By Patrick Mondout

On April 14, 1910, President William Howard Taft threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the season at the Washington Senator's game against Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics. Far from being traditional, it was the first time a sitting president had ever thrown out the first pitch. That would be reason enough to make it our story of the week, but there's more.

Imagine losing a no-hitter on opening day in front of the president because your right fielder tripped over a small boy! That's exactly what happened. Nor was Taft expecting to throw out the first pitch that day.

In fact, Taft was dumbfounded when Hall of Fame umpire Billy Evans made his way to his box prior to the game and presented him with a ball. After all, it was a time honored tradition for the Commissioner of the District of Columbia (who was then Cuno H. Rudolph) to throw out the first pitch at the first Senators' game. According to the Chicago Tribune:

"The president took the ball in his gloved hand as if he were at a loss what to do with it until Evans told him he was expected to throw it over the plate when he gave the signal. He handed to the ball to Mrs. Taft, who accompanied him. She weighed it carefully in her hand while the president was doffing his new kid gloves in preparation for his debut as a baseball pitcher. The president watched the players warm up, and a few minutes later shook hands with the managers, McAleer and Mack. When the bell rang for the beginning of the game, the president shifted uneasily in his seat, the umpire gave the signal, and Mr. Taft raised his arm. Catcher Street stood at the home plate ready to receive the ball, but the president knew the pitcher was the man who usually began business operations with it, so he threw it straight to Pitcher Walter Johnson. The throw was a little low, but the pitcher stuck out his long arm and grabbed the ball before it hit the ground, while the insurgents in the bleachers cheered wildly. The ball was never actually put into play, as it is to be retained as a souvenir of the occasion."

Commissioner Rudolph quickly issued a statement confirming that he had no problem with Taft throwing out the first pitch and, of course, it is now a tradition.

Such a photo op is often met with cynicism and a chorus of jeers today, but it seemed to be a genuinely inspiring moment for the hometown team in the nations' capital. The heavily favored—and soon-to-be world champion—Athletics were confident. Mack had let it be know that he planned on taking all three games from the Senators to start the season.

The hapless Senators—they lost 110 games in 1909—had one factor in their favor aside from presidential support: future Hall of Fame ace Walter Johnson. Though he lost 25 games the previous season, he did so with a 2.22 ERA while striking out a league best 313 batters in his third complete season in the majors.

They also had an overflow paying crowd of 12,226 (a newspaper report said "it seemed like there were 15,000 people in the park"), which meant that fans completely lined the outfield leading to the adoption of the "two-base rule" for hits landing where these fans were "seated."

President William Howard Taft was the first President to throw out the first ball of the baseball season on April 14, 1910. That is Mrs. Taft on the left with Brig. Gen. Clarence Edwards behind her.

Johnson caught the ceremonial pitch from Taft and then went out a threw what was described as "the greatest game of his career, holding the Athletics to one hit, a fly to right field which Gessler was almost under when he backed over a small boy and turned a complete somerset, the mishap depriving Johnson of the honor of pitching a no-hit game. He also fanned nine of the visitors."

As an afterthought, the report mentions the "game was memorable in another respect. It being the first in which a President of the United States threw out the first ball, which he did with a vigorous heave straight into the waiting hands of Johnson."¹

Frank "Home Run" Baker lined the shot to right field that was eventually ruled a ground-rule double. The incident was further described by J. Ed Grillo of the Washington Post:

"That Johnson is not credited with a no-hit game was due to the fact that a boy in the right field crowd stumbled as he was trying to get out of Gessler's way and Gessler fell over him just as he was setting himself for the catch. The crowd had cleared for Gessler as he cam back with the ball, but in his hurry to get out of the way the boy made a mess of it. Gessler took the mishap very much to heart. He wanted Johnson to have credit for the no-hit game. The two players met at the Dewey Hotel last night, and Gessler, after congratulating Johnson, said, "Walter, I'm awfully sorry I could not get that fly, for I wanted you to let them down without a hit, but I couldn't make it because I fell." "That's all right, Doc: we won, didn't we? Well, that is good enough."

The game was played in an hour and 55 minutes, but even that was too long for Grillo who claimed Athletics Hall of Fame pitcher Eddie Plank was to blame:

"There was no reason why yesterday's game should have lasted two hours, for Johnson was setting the visitors down as fast as they walked up, so that all the time was wasted by Plank. The rules specifically state that a ball shall be called by the umpire every time a pitcher holds the ball longer than twenty seconds. There were five occasions yesterday when Plank held the ball between 40 and 45 seconds, but he covered up his work by pretending not see the catcher's sign. An oculist's examination would probably prove that Mr. Plank has two very healthy optics, and when he wastes time on the plea that he can't see, the proper punishment probably would help matters considerably."

The complete game victory was a bit of surprise—even for a pitcher who lead the league in complete games the previous season—as Johnson had not pitched more than 3 innings in any of his spring training appearances.

I have already mentioned five Hall of Famers (Plank, Baker, Mack, Evans and Johnson), but they weren't the only stars present. Chief Bender and Eddie Collins of the A's also made the Hall and, although not technically a star, Hailey's Comet was then visible in the early morning skies.

The Associated Press reporter could not help taking a shot at the Senators even after their victory, reporting that Taft "enjoyed the novel experience of seeing the Washington American League team win a ball game."

Taft may have enjoyed the Sentators' win, but his day of firsts was not over. He became the first president to address a meeting of suffragettes and promptly insulted them by suggesting that if women had the vote, it would be "exercised by that part of the class that is less desirable." The inevitable hissing of a man completely on the wrong side of history reportedly lasted a full minute.

The hissing in D.C.'s League Park would begin soon enough as the Senator's won only 65 more games in 1910.

Notes: 1. Boston Daily Globe, April 15, 1910.