Donald Trump won't throw opening day first pitch at Nationals Park

With opening day almost upon us, there’s an important question that needs to be answered: Will President Donald Trump, who took the oath just over two months ago, throw out a ceremonial first pitch on the first official day of the baseball season?

We now know the answer to that question is no. On Tuesday morning Politico reported that MASN, Washington DC’s local sports network, was talking to President Trump about throwing out the first pitch at Nationals Park on opening day. But the president turned down the invitation.

According to the Nats, the president has a scheduling conflict.

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That scheduling conflict means the president is unavailable to throw out a first pitch anywhere that day. But if he were looking for another option in the area, there isn’t one. In February, Baltimore Orioles vice president John Angelos (who is also the son of Orioles owner Peter Angelos) said on the “B-More Opinionated” podcast that President Trump wouldn’t be welcome at Camden Yards due to his divisive, derogatory and hurtful comments during the election and his presidency this far. Angelos said he’d need an apology before he’d open the doors of Camden Yards, and since that’s not likely to happen, the Orioles have probably been crossed off the list of possible first pitch locations.

There’s a long tradition of presidents throwing out ceremonial first pitches at ballparks. Starting with President William Howard Taft in 1910, every president has thrown out a ceremonial first pitch at an important game. This is just President Trump’s first opening day in office, so he has three more opening days before the election in 2020.

Just because the president is busy on opening day doesn’t mean he’s out of first pitch opportunities for 2017. Presidents have thrown out ceremonial first pitches at important games like the All-Star Game and the World Series, so those are definitely possibilities. And if President Trump throws out a first pitch later this year, maybe he’ll even sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning stretch.

Actually, on second thought, never mind.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher