President’s first pitch

“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the president of the United States!”

The stadium welcomed President Barack Obama with applause at the Nationals Park in Washington D.C. on April 6, 2010. President Obama went there for the first pitch before the opening of the game between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies. The left-hander president pitched a ball but it was so high and was certainly a “ball.” But the announcer said, making everyone laugh, “Perfect strike!” President Obama said, jokingly, “If you need a left-hander, call me anytime.”

It has been a hundred-year long tradition for US presidents to throw out a ball at the opening of a game of a Washington-based team. US President William Howard Taft was the first president to throw a ball at the opening of the game between the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Ace in 1910. President Obama wore a red shirt of the Nationals but wore a cap of the Chicago White Sox. He implied that he is a White Sox fan because he lived in Chicago for a long time although he was born in Hawaii. Few Americans criticize him for this, however.

President Park Geun-hye threw out a first ball before the Game 3 of the Korean Series between the Doosan Bears and the Samsung Lions at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on Sunday. The president wore a dark blue jacket reading “2013 KOREAN SERIES” and a blue glove with a Korean national flag. Some criticized that her sneakers were Asics, a Japanese brand, but others refuted that it does not matter.

Park Yong-jin, spokesman of the main opposition Democratic Party, wrote on his Twitter, “As for the request for truth in the government’s intervention in last presidential election, I’m concerned that the president might mimic throwing a ball while the new prosecutor-general and the investigation team leader might pretend to swing a bat.” It is hard to understand what this message means. He seems to criticize the president somehow. But it could have been better if he had commented, “It is a pleasant surprise to see the president staying with the people. Hopefully, she could show such smile in politics.” Had he done so, the public would have applauded the opposition party.

Editorial Writer Choi Yeong-hae (yhchoi65@donga.com)