First Pitch

~~~

POTUS and the great Willie Mays at the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis, where the unemployment rate was 8.8% in May

(AP) ... Filled with pride on the night of a historic election that made Obama the nation's first black president, Willie Mays said he stayed up until 7 or 8 o'clock the next morning.

"I reminded him that I cried for most of the night in Chicago," said Mays, still emotional as he spoke about that night eight months ago.

"So that tells me all the things I went through, it was for good things," said Mays, who wore an orange-trimmed, black Giants baseball cap with his suit. "So I'm just proud of him, you know. He may be proud of something else. But I'm proud of him, what he stands for.

Mays said his one bit of advice to Obama for the night's pitch was:

"Follow through."

All photos Associated Press
~~~

All-Star Quote of the Evening

~~~


"There's a tremendous amount of parity in Major League Baseball these days. Everybody's team looks at this point like they could do something ... except the Nationals ... but they're in a building year."
-President Barack Obama

"They just fired their manager."
-Joe Buck




~~~