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Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer will meet on the opening day
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The first person to climb the mound for the MLB 2020 season was not a professional baseball player, but Dr. Anthony Fauci. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was tasked with launching the first ceremonial pitch in National Park for the Nationals’ game against the New York Yankees on Thursday to open the MLB season.
As is the case with many first pitches, Dr. Fauci demonstrated that throwing a baseball from the mound to the plate is much more difficult than people give players credit for. But even with this warning in mind, he still missed the plate by a fair margin.
Fauci, like all other medical experts, has been advocating for months for Americans to practice social distancing when leaving the home, basically keeping a space six feet away from others at all times when possible. It’s always encouraging to see someone who preaches such advice follow him, even if it’s with his launch location.
The doctor has served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. He is a fan of the Nationals solely because of his proximity, having grown up in Brooklyn and idolizing the Yankees as Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle as he grew up.
