President Obama To Throw First Pitch
Don't Bounce It
President Barack Obama will throw out the ceremonial first ball at the Washington Nationals opener, marking the 100th anniversary of a presidential pitch to start the season.
William Howard Taft first did it on April 14, 1910. This will be the 48th time a president has made an opening-day pitch in the nation’s capital. The Nationals open at home on April 5 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I am proud that President Obama will continue the long presidential tradition of throwing out the first pitch of opening day in Washington, D.C.,” baseball commissioner Bud Selig said.
Obama will have an experienced target, too: When he played in Texas, new Nationals catcher Ivan Rodriguez, a 14-time All-Star, twice caught ceremonial pitches from President George W. Bush, a former Rangers owner.
Obama threw out the first pitch at last year’s All-Star game in St. Louis, wearing a White Sox jacket. Noting that the Nationals host the White Sox this season for a three-game series June 18-20, Washington manager Jim Riggleman joked, “He’s going to be answering some tough questions about whether he’s a Nationals fan or a White Sox fan.”
Pudge Rodriguez Signs With The Washington Nationals
Best I've Ever Seen
The Washington Nationals came to terms with free agent Ivan Rodriguez on a two year deal worth 6 million dollars. Rodriguez will be a leader in the clubhouse and mentor to the leagues youngest pitching staff.
The potential Hall of Famer also will serve every-day duties for the first month or two of the season, until Jesus Flores is fully recovered from shoulder surgery, and then will mentor Flores.
Rodriguez, 38, last year passed Carlton Fisk for the career record in games caught. He has won 13 Gold Gloves, been to 14 All-Star Games and is a career .299 hitter. Rodriguez, the 1999 AL MVP, is also the all-time leader in games started at catcher and total chances and putouts at the position and is tied with Gary Carter for sixth all-time in home runs as a catcher with 298.
Rodriguez served as a backup for the Rangers after being acquired from the Astros in August. He played in a combined 121 games and hit .249 with 10 home runs and 47 RBIs.
Washington catchers last year hit .250 with a .310 on-base percentage and 121 strikeouts.
Minnesota Twins Joe Mauer Wins American League Most Valuable Player Award
MVP
Joe Mauer catcher of the Minnesota Twins has been named the American League Most Valuable Player in a near unanimous vote,receiving 27 of the 28 first-place votes to easily beat out the Yankees’ duo of Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter, conducted by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Mauer also joined an elite group of players when he won his third American League batting title this season.
The 26-year-old Mauer finished with 327 points, well ahead of Teixeira, who had 225, and Jeter, who had 193. Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who received the only other first-place vote, was fourth with 171 points.
Mauer became the fifth player in Twins history to win the MVP Award. He joined teammate Justin Morneau, who took home the honor in 2006, as well as Zoilo Versalles (1965) Harmon Killebrew (1969) and Rod Carew (1977).
He also became just the second catcher in the past 33 years to be named MVP. Texas Rangers Ivan Rodriguez (1999) is the only backstop besides Mauer to take home the honor since Yankees catcher Thurman Munson won it in 1976. The last catcher to win National League MVP honors was Cincinnati’s Johnny Bench in 1972.
Mauer put together the best season of his already impressive young career in 2009. He batted .365 to earn his second straight AL batting title. It was his third batting title in four seasons, making the 26-year-old the only catcher in Major League history to accomplish the feat. He is the 10th player in AL history with three or more batting titles.
In addition to leading the league in batting average, Mauer also was the leader in on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587), giving him what some stat gurus have deemed the modern Triple Crown. The last AL player to lead in all three of those categories was George Brett of the Royals in 1980. Mauer set career highs in home runs (28) and RBIs (96). And it was that unexpected power surge that was the biggest change for Mauer in 2009, as he more than doubled his previous high in homers (13 in 2006).
This award season had already been kind to Mauer. He was named the AL’s Outstanding Player in the Player’s Choice Awards as well as being named the top player in the AL by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. He also earned his third Silver Slugger Award and his second straight Gold Glove.
Check back to read about Albert Pujols’ NL MVP award, which will be announced Tuesday.
