President Donald Trump Will Attend Tonight’s World Series Game 5

Bruce Haring

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President Donald Trump plans to attend tonight’s Game 5 of the 2019 World Series between the hometown Washington Nationals and the visiting Houston Astros.

Trump’s appearance was certified last night, as Houston took an 8-1 victory to prepare for a Game 5. The Nationals won the first two games of the series and were looking to sweep at home, but the Astros weren’t having it.

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Trump will not throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Instead, chef and local restauranteur Jose Andres, who has criticized the president over immigration, will do the honors. Trump had joked that he didn’t want to wear the body armor necessary for such an exposed appearance, as it would make him look “heavy.”

The President is scheduled to arrive around game time, according to the White House. Security will be heightened at the ballpark, but Trump will arrive after most of the fans have gotten to their seats to minimize inconvenience.

The games mark the first World Series in the nation’s capital since 1933. The former Washington Senators were a terrible team for most of the intervening years, and the franchise eventually moved to Minnesota in 1960 and became the Twins. The second iteration of the Washington Senators was housed in DC from 1961 to 1971, eventually moving to Texas and becoming the Texas Rangers.

In 2005, the former Montreal Expos were relocated to Washington and became the Nationals.

“It’s very exciting,” Trump said on the Sinclair Broadcast Group’s program America This Week. “Houston’s a great team. They were in the White House very recently getting their great award and accolades. They’re a great team so we will see what happens, but it’s going to be a good series.” Trump is a well-known fan of the New York Yankees and a frequent visitor to that team’s games when he lived in New York.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, who golfed with Trump at his Virginia golf club, said he discussed whether Trump wanted to throw out the first pitch. .

“His view was that in order to make the fan experience as positive as possible, he would arrive at Game 5 sometime after the game began, so that wouldn’t interfere with fans getting into the stadium,” Manfred said.

“Quite frankly, we were very grateful for that,” Manfred said. “His sole focus was if I do something like a first pitch or arrive in that time frame, is it going to be disruptive to the every day fan getting into the ballpark and enjoying the game, and he didn’t want that kind of disruption.”

Meanwhile, Fox’s broadcast of the World Series is doing well, particularly in the markets of the two teams in the event.

 

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