President Bush Would Never Associate With Such Unsavory Characters

The mainland Major League Baseball season kicks off Sunday night, with the Nationals opening their new stadium. President Bush is slated to throw out the first pitch. Usually, he throws it to the home team's starting catcher. Unfortunately for him, this year the home team starting catcher is all over the Mitchell Report.

So, as it turns out, the Nationals have removed Paul LoDuca from his duties, which was a surprise to him, and MLB.com. Poor guy, sure.

The White House said it played no role in determining who would catch the pitch. "Whatever the decision the Nationals make is up to them," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said by telephone Thursday. "In no way did we, or would we, raise any issues." Lo Duca said after Thursday's final Grapefruit League game that he had no animosity about the situation. Lo Duca declined to speculate as to whether his role in the Mitchell report had anything to do with the decision.

By the way, boy, do we ever love that picture.

Nationals Replace LoDuca To Catch Bush's First Pitch [Think Progress]