IF HE WERE HITTING THEY COULD LET HIM USE A TEE (via Bryan Francoeur):

Obama preps for the pitchers mound (Kristi Keck, 7/15/09, CNN)

Asked about plans to practice before the game, Obama said Tuesday, "I want to loosen up my arm a little bit."

"The last time I threw a pitch was at the American League championship series, and I just wanted to keep it high," the president said of his opening pitch at the 2005 Chicago White Sox-Anaheim Angels game.

Aiming high is a good strategy, says St. Louis Cardinals scout Matt Blood, but it takes more than on-point aim to make the perfect pitch.

"Throw it with some force, don't lob it in there. Try to get a good downhill plane. Try to keep it in the strike zone," said Blood, who will be at the game Tuesday.

HLN sports anchor Larry Smith, who has thrown out a few first pitches, says Obama has to be careful to "not try to overpower it."

"There's no speed gun on this. Just make it a nice solid throw to the catcher," Smith said. "The one thing he doesn't want to do is bounce it home. Mr. Obama is pretty athletic, so I think he'll ace this."

Overpowering it shouldn't be an issue for the president, who joked Tuesday that he'd be surprised if his 2005 pitch exceeded 30 miles per hour. [...]

But the opening pitch isn't always a light-hearted moment. President Bush described his opening pitch at Yankees stadium during the 2001 World Series as "the most nervous moment" of his presidency so far. The game came less than two months after the September 11 terrorists attacks.

Bush wore an FDNY jacket to pay tribute to the New York City Fire Department. He stepped onto the pitchers mound, and before a cheering crowd of nearly 60,000, he threw a strike. The crowded erupted in chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A."

The brick wall:

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 14, 2009 4:01 PM