Shhhh... Joe Biden ditches work for baseball game in Baltimore

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AFP/NEWSCOM
For Joe Biden's sake, let's hope this isn't his reaction following his ceremonial pitch at today's Baltimore Orioles - New York Yankees game. The vice president is throwing out the first pitch as President Obama is traveling overseas.

Don't tell anyone but Joe Biden is sneaking out of the White House today to go see a baseball game in Baltimore.

It's exactly like Ferris Bueller.

As President Obama is traveling overseas this week, the vice president gets to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the season as the Orioles host the Yankees at Camden Yards.

Will he throw a strike? There's a chance.

Regardless, Biden takes the mound today at 4:15pm (Eastern Time).

Here's some quick history of America's pastime and the presidency.

President Taft was the first President to throw out the first ball of the baseball season on April 14, 1910.

President Wilson and Edith Galt made their first public appearance as an engaged couple at the second game of the World Series in Philadelphia. The following spring, Mrs. Wilson was at the President's side as he threw out the first pitch on opening day.

President Harding once hosted Babe Ruth at the White House and attended this 1922 opener with his wife and with then Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.

Although President Coolidge threw out the opening pitch, the real baseball fan was standing next to him. Grace Coolidge kept perfect scorecards of baseball games and stayed behind after the President made an early exit from the game.

President Hoover should have stayed at home. With the onset of the Great Depression and Babe Ruth's opposition to the president, Hoover was the recipient of many boos when he threw out the first pitch at the 1931 World Series.

Even amidst the Great Depression and World War II, President Roosevelt insisted that the game be given a green light to aid and enhance the morale of the country. He did, however, cease his visits to the ballpark during the war.

President Truman was the first southpaw to toss a baseball out of the presidential box. In fact, President Truman was ambidextrous and used both arms during his numerous ceremonial pitches.

How big of a deal was baseball to President Eisenhower? According to Baseball Almanacy, huge. "Not making the baseball team at West Point was one of the greatest disappointments of my life, maybe my greatest," he said.

President Kennedy had an aide who was nicknamed "Undersecretary of Baseball" because he kept the president apprised of scores and standings.

President Johnson was the first president to dedicate a new stadium when he watched the first game at Houston's Astrodome in 1968.

President Nixon was recruited by Major League Baseball to run the Players Association. He chose to continue his political career instead.

After throwing out the game's first pitch, President Ford witnessed Hall of Famer Hank Aaron's 714th home run, which tied Babe Ruth's legendary record.

Softball, not baseball, was President Carter's great private and public passion. During his vacations in Plains, Georgia, he would often organize serious softball games with his Secret Service security detail.

President Reagan was a Chicago Cubs radio broadcaster in the mid-1930s. In 1934 when the wire went dead during the ninth inning of a scoreless Cubs versus Cardinals game, he improvised for six minutes.

President George H.W. Bush was the captain of the Yale baseball team and played in the first two College World Series.

President Clinton grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas listening to play by play on the radio of the St. Louis Cardinals. Clinton was more of a musician than a fan, but he still fondly recalls listening to Red Schoendienst and Stan Musial, according to Baseball Almanac.

As one baseball website describes it, "One of the most emotional and dramatic moments in Yankee Stadium history came in October, 2001 when President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch in the World Series."

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