The Washington Nationals add some competition to the traditional mid-game presidential mascot race. You won't find this one in the history books though. This time the team branched out into an alternative political reality.
Alas, there was a future for the presidential mascots of the Washington Nationals after October 3, 2012.
That was the day the larger-than-life version of Teddy Roosevelt finally broke his streak of over 500 consecutive losses since the mid-game race of the mascots began in 2006.
The grassroots campaign to help Teddy score a victory reached the level of a Ken Burns documentary, with a cameo from Arizona Senator John McCain. But once Teddy did break his losing streak, a lot of people were asking, “what next”?
Turns out there has been ample opportunity for new innovation. In January, the original team of four mascots welcomed a new President to the mix. Originally we had George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt. When it was time to up the competition, William Howard Taft was added to the roster. The 27th President made a significant contribution to the relationship between politics and sports. On April 14, 1910, Taft was the first president to throw out a ceremonial first pitch.
Yesterday, however, the team invited a special guest to add to the competition. Vice President Selina Meyer! Calm down, you didn’t miss out on an important chapter in history when we had a female vice president. Think the HBO series Veep, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In the final leg of the relay, it was Selina versus George Washington.
Check out the Hardball Sideshow to see whether she experienced a case of beginner’s luck, or got tripped up under all the pressure.