President Trump had not "actually been invited" to throw out the first pitch at an Aug. 15 Yankees home game when he announced those plans last week, so his announcement "surprised both Yankees officials and the White House staff," according to a source cited by Rogers & Weiland of the N.Y. TIMES. Trump, who later postponed his pitch indefinitely, said Yankees President Randy Levine is a "great friend of mine ... and he asked me to throw out the first pitch, and I think I’m doing that on Aug. 15 at Yankee Stadium.” A source said that Trump "had been so annoyed" by Dr. Anthony Fauci getting the chance to throw out the first pitch at Thursday's Yankees-Nationals opener, "that he had directed his aides to call Yankees officials and make good on a longtime standing offer from Mr. Levine to throw out an opening pitch." However, "no date was ever finalized." After the president’s announcement, White House aides "scrambled to let the team know that he was actually booked on Aug. 15, although they have not said what he plans to do" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/28). In DC, Des Bieler notes Trump has "thrown first pitches in the past," including at a '06 Yankees-Red Sox game, but he has "yet to do so since the 2016 election." That has him "running out of time in his first term to avoid becoming the first sitting president in more than 100 years not to perform the ceremony" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/28).
