Its curve was a little too flat.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force and baseball fan, launched the first pitch at the long-awaited start to the 2020 MLB season, when the New York Yankees faced off against the National World Series champions.
But Fauci, 79, should have stuck to infectious diseases, as he threw the ball directly to the ground.
Wearing a Nationals jersey and a red face mask, the 5-foot-7-inch right-hander bounced the ball across the grass, across the first base line, far from home plate.
He had been targeting Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle, but he was a little outside.
Fauci, a Brooklyn-born Nats fan, had some pre-game concerns, and told the team Ryan Zimmerman that he was “pretty nervous” about pitching.
“Okay, well, don’t worry about it,” Zimmerman, who is out of season for health reasons, replied in a video on Twitter.
“If you bounce it, there’s no one there to boo you. Then, you will be ready to go.
Not long before the long-awaited game, President Trump announced that he will pitch the opening field at Yankee Stadium on August 15.
Trump told reporters that he was invited by his friend, Yankees President Randy Levine. He wondered what it would be like without a crowd in the stands in the middle of the pandemic.
“They say, ‘What is the crowd going to be like?’ And you know, it’s like you don’t have a crowd, there was no such thing that was interesting, “Trump said.
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