Will Obama show some S. Side pride?
ALL-STAR GAME | Sox want to remind baseball world that president is their guy
Mark Buehrle will have a goal beyond helping the American League win baseball's All-Star Game tonight. He aims to make sure the White Sox are on the president's mind. Or on his back. Or that the president has the Sox on hand.
Obama is slated to throw the ceremonial first pitch tonight in St. Louis' Busch Stadium, and it's the White Sox pitcher's mission to slip the U.S. commander in chief a White Sox team cap, jacket or glove for the night. Like Buehrle, Obama is left-handed.
(AP)
"I grabbed him on Thursday, and I said, 'Get him your jersey; your hat; whatever. Offer him anything you got,' " Sox Vice President Scott Reifert said. "What a great statement it would be and the reactions would be if he happened to go to the mound wearing a White Sox hat!"
Obama -- known as the First Fan because of his support of the South Side baseball club -- is credited with boosting fall sales of White Sox caps by 25 percent over the prior year, as he frequently casually sports the lids.
The St. Charles, Mo.-born Buehrle is committed to seeing No. 44 in White Sox gear at the Cardinal's home tonight.
"I'll try to go over and give him a hat. It would be an honor for him to take one of my hats to the White House as a keepsake," he said. "Obviously, the Secret Service will be around, but I'll try to get as close as I can."
Obama will be the first U.S. president to toss the pitch at the All-Star Game since Gerald Ford lobbed one in the 1976 contest.
After the pitch, Obama will take to the broadcast booth to chat with broadcasters Joe Buck and Tim McCarver -- likely around the second inning, said Ed Goren, president of Fox Sports, broadcasters of the game.
"We're hopeful we'll have some fun together," he said. "This isn't Fox News Sunday."
"With all the difficult issues he deals with day in and day out, we want to make this a lighter moment in his very busy life."
Contributing: Christopher De Luca