What is Ceremonial first pitch?
[[File:US Navy 030702-N-7170H-001 Cmdr. John Coray, Commanding Officer Navy Recruiting Command District Pittsburgh throws the first pitch of a Washington Wild Things game.jpg|thumb|A member of the [[United States Navy]] throwing the first pitch of a baseball game.]] A '''ceremonial first pitch''' is a tradition in [[baseball]]. It is when a special person throws a ball to mark the start of the game. The person used to throw the ball to the [[pitcher]] of the home team from their seat. This changed when [[President of the United States|United States President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] threw a pitch from the field, similar to how a pitcher threw the ball.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-04-03|title=From Taft to Trump: Scouting presidential first pitches|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18974934/scouting-presidential-first-pitches|access-date=2022-12-01|website=ESPN.com|language=en}}</ref> Because of Reagan, the person now stands in front of the [[Baseball park|pitcher's mound]] and throws the ball to home plate. The person who catches the ball is often from the home team. The tradition was first done in the United States in the 1800s.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brown|first=Peter Jensen|date=2016-09-03|title=Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog: President Taft, Governor McKinley and the “Lucky Seventh” Inning – the History and Origins of the Ceremonial “First Pitch” and the “Seventh Inning Stretch”|url=https://esnpc.blogspot.com/2016/09/president-taft-governor-mckinley-and.html|access-date=2022-12-01|website=Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog}}</ref> The person is often a [[celebrity]] or other important person who is at the game. It may also be an important person from a company to gives money to the baseball team, or somebody who won a [[Competition|contest]] to throw the first pitch. Sometimes many first pitches are thrown. == References == <references /> [[Category:Baseball]]