(FOXNEWS) – Opening Day welcomes the new spring baseball
season each year, a uniquely America tradition steeped in
history and fanfare.
And on this day in history, April 14, 1910, President William
Howard Taft became the first U.S. president to throw out the
first pitch at a Major League Baseball game (above).
Taft was first in a long line of presidents to have the honor
and nearly. every president since Taft has thrown out the
first pitch, with the exception of Jimmy Carter, Donald
Trump and Joe Biden, according to National Geographic.
(Biden did throw out the first pitch as Barack Obama’s
vice president.)
The historic toss on opening day featured Walter Johnson,
the Washington Senators’ starting pitcher against the
Philadelphia Athletics at National Park in the nation’s
capital.
Johnson, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1936, took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving
up a double to Baker. It was Philadelphia’s only hit in the
Senators’ 3-0 win.
William Howard Taft
(September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930)
Walter Perry Johnson (1887 – 1946)
Nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train"
Joseph Anthony Pepitone
(October 9, 1940 – March 13, 2023)
Pepitone was a professional baseball first baseman and
outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB)
for the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Chicago
Cubs, and Atlanta Braves from 1962 to 1973 and for the
Yakult Atoms of Nippon Professional Baseball in 1973.
Pepitone was a three-time MLB All-Star and won three
Gold Glove Awards.
Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021)
On February 5, 1934, Henry Louis Aaron Jr., the baseball slugger
who broke Babe Ruth’s legendary record of 714 homers, was
born in Mobile, Alabama.
Aaron began his professional baseball career in 1952 in the Negro League and joined the Milwaukee Braves of the major league in
1954, eight years after Jackie Robinson had integrated baseball.
Aaron was the last Negro League player to compete in the majors
and established himself as an important player for the Braves
winning the National League batting title in 1956. The following
season, he took home the league’s MVP award and helped the
Braves beat Mickey Mantle and the heavily favored New York
Yankees in the World Series.
In 1959, Aaron won his second league batting title. Season after
season, he turned in strong batting performances.