Obama goes low with All-Star first pitch
 | Video: Baseball from NBC Sports |
 Nats name Riggleman Jim Riggleman was officially introduced as the manager of the Washington Nationals. |
Obama first visited the NL’s clubhouse. Known for trash talking on the basketball court, he saved a little bit for the locker room.
After greeting Pujols, the most fearsome hitter in the majors, Obama went over to Milwaukee star Prince Fielder, who won Monday night’s Home Run Derby.
Pointing at Fielder, the president said, “Hey Albert, what happened, this guy, man — in your home park? What’s going on, man?”
Obama left that side with a souvenir, too. Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino, like Obama from Hawaii, gave the president some macadamia nuts.
Next stop was the AL clubhouse, where he gibed Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter for being so old and signed an autograph for Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. A White Sox fan, Obama was glad to see pitcher Mark Buehrle, the only representative from the president’s favorite team.
Buehrle said he didn’t really believe it when Obama said he would wear a White Sox jacket to the mound.
“I looked up and I was like, ’Holy Cow, he’s actually doing it.’ Everybody around me was giving me a hard time saying, ’What the heck, he’s wearing White Sox stuff.’ That’s how we roll in Chicago, we got the president behind us,” Buehrle said.
Added the president: “Everybody knows I’m a White Sox fan and my wife thinks I look cute in this jacket. Between those two things, why not?”
Obama and former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter joined together for a seven-minute video about community service shown on the scoreboard at Busch Stadium and Fox.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig had invited Obama to the game.
“It’s a big thing. The players will enjoy it. The fans will enjoy it. But it’s another testament to the meaning of this sport,” Selig said earlier Tuesday.
“We are a social institution and whether we want to admit it or not, and for years I don’t think baseball wanted to admit that, we do have enormous social responsibility, and clearly that intrigued the White House and the president.”
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