WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals' season opener next week, Major League Baseball said on Monday.
Obama's pre-game toss before the Nationals' take on the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies on April 5 will mark the 100-year anniversary of the first time a president participated in the Opening Day ceremony.
President William Howard Taft began the tradition on April 14, 1910, before the Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics 3-0 on a one-hitter by Hall of Famer Walter Johnson.
The ceremony will be the 48th time a president tossed the Opening Day pitch in Washington.
"Opening Day of the baseball season is a special event for our country and its importance has been reinforced by the 100-year history of presidential participation," MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, who will attend the game, said in a statement.
"I am proud that President Obama will continue the long presidential tradition of throwing out the first pitch of Opening Day in Washington D.C."
(Reporting by Steve Ginsburg; Editing by Ed Osmond)
