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Friday, March 28, 2008

Bush won’t pitch to catcher named in Mitchell Report

By Ken Herman | Friday, March 28, 2008, 09:57 AM

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The Washington Nationals have avoided a potentially dicey opening-night situation by selecting Manager Manny Acta (right), instead of starting catcher Paul Lo Duca, to catch the ceremonial first pitch from President Bush on Sunday night. Nats’ third baseman Ryan Zimmerman also will participate in the ceremony.

The big event will mark the opening of the Nationals’ new stadium near downtown DC.

Lo Duca was a potential problem because he was named 37 times in the Mitchell Report that documented steroid and human growth hormone use by major leaguers. See item below entitled “Bush to pitch to substance abuser?”

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel says the decision was made by the Nationals, with no input from the administration. Bush has been an outspoken critic of abuse of performance-enhancing substances by ballplayers.

“That was the decision that was made by the Nationals,” says Stanzel. “The president has thrown (previous ceremonial first pitches) to starting catchers, backup catchers and to managers before. It varies from team to team.”

Did Bush object to throwing to Lo Duca?

“The president was happy to throw out the first pitch to whoever the Nationals selected,” Stanzel says.

MLB.com reports this response from Lo Duca: “I’m not mad at all.”

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McCain to “introduce himself to the nation”

By Ken Herman | Friday, March 28, 2008, 07:54 AM

You may already have heard about him a time or two, but an Arizona GOP senator named John McCain is embarking on a tour his campaign said will “introduce himself to the nation through a series of speeches and visits that trace the life of a man indebted to his nation, humbled by the opportunity to serve his country, honored by his family’s love and deeply moved by his fellow Americans’ courage and sacrifice.”

The “Service to America” tour starts Monday in Mississippi. On Tuesday, McCain will be at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, his alma mater. Wednesday also is alma mater day, with a speech at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, as well as an event in Pensacola

Jacksonville on Thursday and Prescott, Arizona on Saturday.

McCain also is out with his first TV ad of the general election campaign. It’s called “624787” and will air in New Mexico, which his campaign identifies as an “important battleground state.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-QYIP7o2-A; http://johnmccain.com/service/

The number in the ad’s name was McCain’s official military ID while he was a POW in Vietnam.

“John McCain,” says the narrator on the ad. “The American president Americans have been waiting for.”

Apparently not all Americans, according to the first three comments added on YouTube - that great bastion of anonymous free speech - after the campaign posted the ad:

“If you want the Iraq war to last another 100 years - wasting literally trillions of dollars - then vote for McCain.”

“McCain is awesome, he is a lot better than those annoying Democrats!”

“Yea, McCain is a tough guy. He didn’t hesitate whether to drop napalm on innocent civilians or not. So be careful what you wish for America.”

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