Willie Mays to accompany President Obama
ST. LOUIS — Hall of Famer Willie Mays will travel with President Barack Obama today as he jets his way to St. Louis to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at tonight’s 80th All-Star Game, held at Busch Stadium.
The White House announced the President’s companion on the trip, and Mays will join President Obama in Michigan where he’ll stop before landing in St. Louis. Mays is also scheduled to watch the game with Obama. Author James S. Hirsch, who is working the book “Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend” (to be published in February by Scribner) offers up this background on the Hall of Famers relationship with Obama:
“Mays met Obama on the campaign trail, and Obama in citing role models and heroes, would mention Mays in some of his speeches. Mays, who’s never been political, stayed up until 5 a.m. watching the election returns and sent (Obama) a congratulatory email.”
President Obama will be the fifth President to throw out a first pitch at the All-Star Game, and tonight will be the ninth time in All-Star Game that a president has attended. The previous prez.:
- sitting, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937
- sitting, John F. Kennedy in 1962 (first pitch)
- sitting, Richard Nixon in 1970 (first pitch)
- sitting, Gerald Ford in 1976 (first pitch)
- former, Gerald Ford in 1978 (first pitch)
- former, Ronald Reagan in 1989
- sitting, George H. W. Bush in 1991
- sitting, George H. W. Bush in 1992
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(2 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Leave it to MLB to try to upstage Stan Musial in St. Louis.
Willie Mays was one of the greatest players ever, but the game is in St. Louis and this one should belong to Stan Musial. Is the President doing anything specific to honor “The Man?” If not, he should be.
I wish B.O. would inspire me. But his stench will screw up traffic tonight in the same way he is screwing up our taxes, energy usage, health care, banks, auto industry, etc., etc., etc. Will B.O. require a teleprompter when in the Fox Sports booth prior to running out for a smoke?
The say hey kid & Stan “The Man”, my 2 favorites of all time. Don’t worry about Stan being overshadowed by Mays, no way that happens. Check out Stan’s Tribute Before the game.
- Johnny G
Wow! Way to show your hate St. Louis! No wonder race relations in this Town are the pits!! Can’t even let Willie Mays come to town without throwing garbage from your mouths. As a ball fan both Mays and Musial should be welcome on this day. Most of us won’t see this again, and all some of you can do is complain.
This is a shabby PR move by the President. You don’t upstage a night that is supposed to showcase the town. I appreciate everything that Willie Mays was and is, but this is pretty crappy.
Willie Mays and Obama’s personal assistant Reggie will be at his side,
I think Reggie carries his dope. After a trip back to his hometown in Africa he should stay in DC, that is until he’s impeached..
Every clueless person I know supports Obama..
Tracy, you’re an idiot. Who really has the race problem here, those of us who feel that Mays was well honored in San Francisco when the game was played there but believe that the local greats in here town deserve the same respect, or yourself? You are the only one to bring race into this discussion. I would have been just as aggravated had it been Mickey Mantle or Ted Williams, were they still alive. Keep your reverse prejiduces to yourself. This isn’t a reaction to either their race, or their politics. It’s been 43 years since St. Louis has been honored with the game (for perspective, that means Stan was nearly still playing). The great Cardinals should be allowed to have their time in the spotlight without the President trying to make his own statements.
Why is everyone in St. Louis so anti Obama. This isn’t a political event, it is a sports event! Relax and enjoy the fact that the greatest players in baseball will be represented tonight. Stan, Albert, AND Obama put the spotlight directly on ST. Louis and the beloved Cardinals!
How can Willie Mays coming to the All-Star Game be a bad thing? Hello! It’s Willie Mays! If you think so, you’re not a baseball fan. You are just a hater.