Nats Add Heavy Hitter To Lineup

The Washington Nationals have an awesome lineup for 2013. Outfielders Bryce Harper and Jason Werth will combine with Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Danny Haren on the mound, with Rafael Soriano warming up in the bullpen.

And now they’ve just added another heavy hitter. He’s 350 pound “Big Chief” Bill Taft, perhaps better known as William Howard Taft, our 27th and heaviest president. Taft will be joining George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, as the fifth member of the running presidential mascots: The Big Five

Hopefully he’ll have better luck that TR, who lost a record 525 races in a row, until the Nats made the postseason last year, when he then won consecutive races:

Teddy Wins

Why add Taft, or “Big Lub”, as he was known in college, when he weighed 240 pounds? Because Taft is the father of the 7th Inning Stretch. He threw out the first ball at the Washington Senators 1910 home opener — and then in the 7th inning, stood up to stretch his legs. Out of deference to the president, all the fans stood on their feet and a new tradition was born.

Taft was the largest U.S. president ever, weighing in at 1,120 baseballs (each ball weighs 5 ounces), so if you do the math it comes to more than 350 pounds. The ceremonial first ball is now a part of American presidential history– with every president throwing out a first pitch, with the exception of Jimmy Carter.

Speaking of firsts, next Saturday, March 16 is Opening Day for Arden Park Little League in

Sacramento. I’ll be doing a book signing there starting at 10 a.m. and will be donating 50% of all sales to Arden Little League, 1100 Eastern Avenue, in Sacramento:

Arden Little League

Hope to see you there!

About Mike

Mike Luery is an award-winning journalist with 25 years on TV and radio. Currently, he is the political reporter for KCRA-TV, the top-ranked station in Sacramento. This is Luery's second tour of duty with KCRA, where he was also a reporter from 1984 - 2000. In between, he was NBC's Capitol Bureau Chief in California and a reporter for CBS 13 in Sacramento. Luery lives in northern California with his wife Carol. Baseball Between Us is his first book.
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