In honor of President’s Day, I found a great article about baseball and United States Presidents. Whitehouse.gov provides us with some interesting facts about presidents, former and current, and their love for the game. Some interesting factoids from the article (Note: any words in italics have been added by me for clarification):

• “Abraham Lincoln’s love of the game was so well known that an 1860 political cartoon showed Lincoln and his opponents on a baseball diamond. “
• “William Howard Taft was the first President to do the honors (throwing the first pitch)  when he threw a ball from his seat in the stands to the Washington Senator’s opening day pitcher, Walter Johnson, on April 14, 1910.”
• “Ronald Reagan so loved the game that he worked as a radio announcer for the Chicago Cubs. His success gave him the opportunity to go into acting, where he once played the part of a pitcher in the movie, The Winning Team.”

In addition, Baseball Almanac also has some great quotes and facts, including the attendance dates for past presidents.

Sometimes I forget how long baseball, or forms of baseball, have been part of America’s pastime. Reading this stuff has really renewed my interest in looking into the history of baseball and sharing what I find with the readers of Hot Foot.