President Bush Throws a Strike at Yankee Stadium

On October 30, 2001, President George W. Bush threw the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. It was 49 days after the September 11 attacks. The moment transcended baseball and became one of the most memorable first pitches ever thrown.

Security officials had urged Bush to attend Game 1 in Arizona, where the threat profile was lower. He declined. He wanted to go to New York. Earlier that day, he visited first responders working at Ground Zero, then flew by Marine One helicopter to the Bronx.

Bush wore a New York Fire Department pullover over a bulletproof vest. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter reportedly told him in the tunnel beforehand, "Don't bounce it. They'll boo you." Bush walked to the mound, wound up, and threw a perfect strike to backup catcher Todd Greene. The crowd of 55,820 erupted with chants of "U-S-A."

It was only the second time a sitting president had thrown a first pitch at a World Series game. Dwight Eisenhower had done it in 1956. Bush, a former managing general partner of the Texas Rangers, understood what the moment required. He threw from the full mound, not from in front of it, and he delivered the ball with velocity and accuracy.

The game itself saw the Yankees lose to the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1, falling behind two games to one in the Series. But the score was secondary. The 2001 postseason had already become about something larger than wins and losses. Baseball's return to New York that autumn gave the city a gathering point when it needed one.

The pitch remains a touchstone in the relationship between the presidency and the national pastime. Bush later called it one of the most nervous moments of his life.