William Howard Taft may be “best known” as the 27th U.S. President, but, if you’re like most people, you know him as the president who got stuck in his bathtub. Although the would-be Secret Service nightmare is a hoax (Taft had a super-sized bathtub installed especially for him), Taft made a lasting impression on America’s pastime.
In 1911, Taft threw a baseball from the stands to pitcher Walter Johnson. Although it looks a little different nowadays, Taft started the tradition of the ceremonial first pitch.
Fast forward 109 years, and eighty ceremonial first pitches have been thrown by a sitting U.S. president. So, from Taft to Obama (we’re still waiting for Trump’s debut on the mound), we were wondering: Who’s thrown the most strikes? Who didn’t quite make it to the catcher? Luckily, we did the research and broke down the data to answer those questions and more.
80 pitches in 109 years: A visual breakdown of presidential first pitches
Read on to see how the lineup stacks up.