Baseball fans around the nation are cheering today as the ‘08 season gets under way. The most pressing news for most STLtoday.com readers is how long the rain will delay the ongoing game at Busch Stadium.

Given that so many people have baseball on the brain, I think today’s Web Watch is appropriately themed.

The weekend was pretty quiet in the political world (weekends often are), and candidates and campaigns are far being outdone by NCAA basketball and MLB news in terms of Internet traffic.

One political tidbit – baseball theme and all — has risen to the surface. One of the most watched videos on YouTube at present is a clip of President George W. Bush getting booed as he threw out the first pitch at the season opener for the Nationals.

Disclaimer: The hooting of a bunch of baseball fans (and don’t get me wrong, I like baseball fans) should probably be taken with a grain of salt. 

But the reaction is telling of the mood in our country, especially when you consider the overwhelming applause the president received when he threw a ceremonial strike at the 2001 World Series in New York a month-and-a-half after Sept 11.

We have all heard about the president’s low poll numbers, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find a more tangible expression of that angst.

This once again raises questions we’ve heard before: How much Bush will be “on trial” in the November election? How much will he be involved in the candidacy of Sen. John McCain?

Two clips are posted below: the first from Sunday’s game, the second from an interesting HBO segment about Bush tossing the first pitch of Game 3 at the 2001 series.

Two final notes: One, the president definitely has an arm. Two, I’m a Cubs fan. Sorry.