Campaign Pitches

Someone put together side by side ceremonial pitches thrown by Presidents Barack Obama and George Bush. Mr. Obama’s pitch left something to be desired.

We all have our bad days.

A critic later observed that Mr. Obama threw like a girl; apparently he hadn’t seen Joan Joyce throw a softball. Ted Williams and I did and were similarly impressed.

The presidential campaign is now upon us, and we can expect a few fast balls and curve balls thrown by all the candidates and their supporters. Americans tend to take such things in stride.

To preserve a sensible perspective as the season rolls out, it might be well to compare the critical view of Mr. Obama’s pitching above with Davy Crocket’s estimate of then Vice President Martin Van Buren:

“Van Buren is so stiff in his gait and prim in his dress that he is what the British call a dandy. When he enters the Senate chamber in the morning, he struts and swaggers like a crow in the gutter. He is laced up in corsets, such as women in town wear, and if possible tighter than the best of them. I would be difficult to say from his personal appearance whether he was a man or a woman, but for his large red and gray whiskers.”

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