Wow! I received a really cool package today! Even though it was Columbus Day, my mail carrier still delivered a priority mail package (yeah USPS!). My collection addition today is a baseball from Todd Greene. You might say “big deal!” The guy played for six teams and has a negative career WAR. Well, one of those teams was the New York Yankees and the year was 2001. That year he was back up to Jorge Posada getting into just 35 games but what makes this one of my favorite baseballs in my collection is something that will not show up in a box score. Prior to Game 3 of the 2001 World Series, President Bush threw out the first pitch becoming just the third sitting president to throw a first pitch in the World Series. Who did President Bush throw it to? Yep! You guessed it! Todd Greene! I asked him to write about the event on the baseball and he did a great job on it. He wrote that Jorge Posada was supposed to catch the first pitch but “‘Rocket’ took a while in the pen” so Todd grabbed his glove and caught it. What a neat footnote to the event. Next time you watch the clip of President Bush throwing out the first pitch, know it was Todd Greene who caught it!
Here is a video of the event!