Good thing Dr. Anthony Fauci will keep his day job as the country’s top infectious disease expert, because his first attempt on the baseball mound did not go well.
Fauci, who has risen in popularity this year as the go-to guy in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic, threw out the first pitch of the long-delayed 2020 MLB season in Washington, D.C. He is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of the most notable members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
You can see Fauci’s first pitch below, which was… just a hair outside:
Dr. Anthony Fauci throws out the first pitch. #JustALittleOutside #BaseballisBack pic.twitter.com/QJoD7mhlwU
— Fuck Dave Portnoy ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) July 23, 2020
The MLB season finally got underway Thursday night as the defending champion Washington Nationals host the New York Yankees. It will be followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the San Francisco Giants. The season had been delayed by more than two months.
MLB’s shortened 60-game campaign will be without any fans in attendance, though Fox’s games will have computer-generated crowds.
Baseball is so far the biggest American professional sport to stage play during the pandemic. The NBA returns next week (the WNBA tips off Saturday) from its Orlando bubble. The NHL will skate back onto the ice on Aug. 1 from two separate Canadian bubbles.