Actually, he DIDN'T bounce it, as much as I wanted to see him do it. I did a frame by frame and got this screenshot of the downward arc of the ball into the glove.
But I am with you 100%. It is creepy.
Posted on 07/16/2009 4:55:52 PM PDT by mojito
Those of you who watched the beginning of the All Star game last night will have noticed that, when President Obama threw the first pitch, the camera shot was a close-up that made it impossible to see whether his pitch was on target. I found this odd, and so did Andy McCarthy.
I'll make an educated guess that this was done at the insistence of the White House to prevent embarrassment in case Obama's pitch was a poor one. To be sure, the White House ultimately could not prevent everyone from seeing a bad pitch (YouTube and all of that), but using a bizarre camera angle in real time would minimize the number who saw a miscue.
Obama's pitch failed to reach home plate. Albert Pujols, serving as Obama's catcher, had stationed himself on the plate, rather than behind it, and still had to lurch forward in the hope of preventing a bounce. He almost succeeded.
There is nothing wrong with a politician throwing a bad pitch, of course. Although much was made by some of the strike President Bush threw at Yankee Stadium during the 2001 World Series, there is no relationship between pitching prowess and being a good president.
The point, then, is not Obama's poor pitch, but rather the media's complicitly in preventing people from seeing it. Andy is probably right in saying that "the sports press is among the media's leftiest precincts."
As Andy explains, the weird camera angle was part of a series of choreographing decisions designed to spare Obama from embarrassment:
"His entrance was shrewdly orchestrated. The cheers and boos started as soon as he came onto the field, but he was steered immediately over to shake hands with Stan Musial -- the most beloved player in the history of the Cardinals. No true St. Louis fan would boo Satan if he was shaking hands with Stan the Man. The president then went straight to the mound, where today's Stan the Man, the great Pujols, took good care of him -- quickly embracing Obama right after making sure his heave looked borderline respectable ... with a little help from the cameras. Finally, Obama moved was ushered quickly over to the third-base line, where Cardinal legends Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, and Lou Brock (among others) were there to share warm-handshakes."
Finally, as Andy notes, the fact that Pujols was behind (or on top of) the plate for Obama's pitch is itself telling. In these situations, it is almost always a catcher who catches the "first" pitch. Pujols, of course, is a first baseman. But he is venerated in St. Louis, so the White House chose to make him a prop for the president.
You can't really blame the White House for attempting to stage Obama's appearance this way; nor can major league baseball be expected to resist the White House on cosmetic matters. All I ask is that, if a president chooses to take the mound, we get to see what he delivers when he delivers it.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzFmMjkyZGM4MzllNjczYTc1MDRmNDNhNDdkYWJmMWY=
Fox Sports’ weird camera angle can be viewed here:
Media malpractice.
And this one-bounce performance was after he had PRACTICED in a pitching tunnel earlier.
Actually, he DIDN'T bounce it, as much as I wanted to see him do it. I did a frame by frame and got this screenshot of the downward arc of the ball into the glove.
But I am with you 100%. It is creepy.
Watch this clip from MLB. It clearly shows 0 did not reach home plate (24 seconds in).
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=5573797
I’ll never forget the video of him on the view fanning himself.
He’s as effeminate as they come.
Even the way he runs.....wuss!
Circumstantial evidence that Der Fuhrer is not a natural born American. Can’t even throw a baseball? Hmmm!
obamba fortunately threw an awful blooper...that gaves Pujols time, since he was already standing on the plate, to make a stab to catch it inches off the ground ... the Pres should be a Cardinal fan after that .... magritte
I resent how the media represents him as “the jock president”.
I thought I was going to puke listening to the announcers, Buck and the on-field guy???, fawn over obama.
Thanks, it’s great to have proof this pussy didn’t throw it to the plate. Love it!!
Why would Obama care if we watched a Dunkin Donuts commercial?
Just more evidence that BHO did not grow up as an American. At the age most youngsters are tossing balls with friends, he was enrolled in school in a muslim nation. I don't suppose baseball was something he knows much about.
He did not have an American up-bringing.
Rush said today....he was asked have you ever seen a girl throw he YES...BO throws like a girl.
If it makes you feel any better, note that the "catcher" is standing in front of the plate, and reaching as far forward as he can while squatting. The ball was caught about 3 feet short of the plate, just barely off the ground, so it was certainly a "bounce pitch", is was just scooped up before it had a chance to hit the ground.
...did he toss it as far as Gretta did?
sorry — didn’t see anything but stupid advertisements
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Here's for you Jon Francis Kerrrrry, you creap.
Here's a great video of Gov. Palin. It is a "must watch":
It clearly would have bounced in front of the plate.
His staff should have saved him for a soccer match. I’m sure, having grown up in Indonesia, he’d have been perfectly comfortable kicking in the first ball.
It looks like his pinky is off the ball and his thumb is under it. He could have claimed he was trying to throw a knuckleball, but he’s got the seams wrong, and he clearly looks prepared to snap his wrist. For a knuckler his wrist would be rigid and he’d push the ball to the plate with his middle 3 fingers.
Close....but no cigar.
I am sorry but this the same idiot that ripped Sarah Palin. I am shallow and will not read Powerline anymore.
Liberals.
All about how things look, on the surface only, and never about substance, achieving objectives, or real accomplishment.
In fact, real accomplishment embarrasses them so much they chronically attack it to salve their abysmal self images.
The only image they can applaud is the superficially successful dirtbag, notibly Pelosi, Kerry, Kennedy and Clinton, among numerous others.
Isn't there something sinister about the way that everyone seemingly covers for this clown all the time, in every situation?All I ask is that, if a president chooses to take the mound, we get to see what he delivers when he delivers it.
Presidents are typically old enough that former All-Star baseball players of his age aren't a lock to throw a strike on a first pitch. For that matter, even active major league pitchers often throw balls when they are trying to throw strikes. Warmed up or no.So it's only a big deal if the president makes a big deal out of it. And then it gets creepy. In The Road to Serfdom, F.A. Hayek makes the point that fascists can't be wrong - they will take a position on a seemingly trivial matter where you or I would shrug our shoulders when proven wrong by events, but fascists will defend their position ferociously.
Great video, I need to shut down the torrent stuff to archive it. The programs conflict trying to access the I/O ports.
That’s great. Thanks!
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