WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump recruited Baseball Hall of Fame member Mariano Rivera on Thursday to help celebrate Baseball Opening Day with a group of Little League players at the White House.
The day Dr. Anthony Fauci launched the ceremonial pitch for the defending champions of the Washington Nationals, Trump also said he had been invited to launch the pitch on August 15 at Yankee Stadium.
Trump said that the return of sports was “something tremendously psychological for our country” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Rivera made a surprise appearance at the Trump virus briefing in the afternoon. The president said the two would go outside to see “some beautiful young minor leagues outside with a great future ahead of them. They are already practicing in the front yard of the White House.”
Rivera, the former New York Yankees relief pitcher, watched as the president announced that he would cancel Florida’s portion of the Republican National Convention next month due to the coronavirus.
Trump praised Rivera’s work with the children and his records as a closer to the president’s favorite team. He has previously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rivera.
Rivera’s old team was in Washington to open the shortened major league season Thursday night. The president praised Major League Baseball for moving forward.
“I think Major League Baseball is setting an example by playing in empty stadiums. And also other sports,” Trump said, citing soccer and golf, among others. “We want to go back to normal. The key is to go back to normal.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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