WASHINGTON — A day after President Donald Trump said he plans to attend Game 5 of the World Series, the Washington Nationals announced that the ceremonial first pitch for that game would be thrown out by chef Jose Andres, a vocal critic of Trump’s.
Four years ago, Andres withdrew from plans to open a restaurant in the Trump International Hotel in Washington following Trump’s controversial comments about Mexican immigrants during the presidential campaign.
Trump Old Post Office, which runs the hotel as the landlord under a lease with the General Services Administration, sued Andres’ companies, Think Food Group and Topo Atrio, in July 2015 for breach of contract and claimed damages in excess of $10 million.
Andres’ companies filed a counterclaim, and the case in D.C. Superior Court was settled in 2017.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Friday said logistics of the President’s appearance was discussed, and the decision was made for Trump to arrive after the game had started — and therefore after the ceremonial first pitch by Andres — so as to not disrupt the game experience for fans entering the stadium at normal time.
Major League Baseball said the decision on first pitches is made jointly between the host team and MLB.
Please, I don’t want anyone to be nervous but……anyone has a baseball ball? Just in case, I need to practice…@Nationals @astros @MLB 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/XE2AMjN2II
— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) October 25, 2019
Washington leads the Houston Astros 2-0 in the best-of-seven series going into Game 3 on Friday, so a Game 5 on Sunday is not yet assured.
Trump would be the first sitting president to attend a World Series game since George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at New York’s Yankee Stadium before Game 3 in 2001.
Other presidents who attended a World Series game were Woodrow Wilson (1915), Calvin Coolidge (1924), Herbert Hoover (1929, 1930, 1931), Franklin Roosevelt (1933, 1936), Dwight Eisenhower (1956), Jimmy Carter (1979) and Ronald Reagan (1983).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.