Trump's plan to throw out first pitch at Yankees game surprised team officials
WASHINGTON – When President Donald Trump announced last week he'd been invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch for the New York Yankees in August, he forgot to mention one important detail: It was not actually scheduled.
"Randy Levine is a great friend of mine from the Yankees,” Trump told reporters on Thursday, referring to the team's president. "And he asked me to throw out the first pitch, and I think I’m doing that on Aug. 15 at Yankee Stadium.”
The comments came as a surprise to Yankees officials, who had no such plans for the president's appearance, according to a person who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Trump later canceled the plans citing a scheduling conflict. The club is now awaiting the White House to provide a new date, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Friday she found out about the president's plans when he announced them a day earlier.
"I was not a part of the discussions as to how that's going to work, in terms of the first pitch," McEnany said. "I've learned about it when you guys did, and he's very excited to throw it out."
Trump's surprise announcement came hours before Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert who has been a thorn in the president's side in recent weeks, threw out the first pitch for the Washington Nationals' Opening Day game against the Yankees.
Fauci, a fervent Nationals fan who frequently sports a mask emblazoned with the team logo, has rankled the president and his supporters as he's emerged as the administration's most prominent voice on the coronavirus outbreak.
The 79-year-old has gone on a media blitz, appearing on camera, in print and on podcasts where he's warned Americans about the severity of the pandemic - often contradicting Trump's optimistic message touting his administration's handling of the coronavirus crisis.
A poll from Morning Consult and Politico released earlier this month showed American voters giving Fauci high marks for his handling of the coronavirus response, with 62% of voters saying Fauci's work was "excellent" or "good." By contrast, only 36% of voters said Trump was doing an "excellent" or "good" job in handling the pandemic.
Fauci has shrugged off recent efforts by the White House to obscure his turn in the spotlight, including a point-by-point list of criticisms of Fauci's record circulated to several news organizations, calling them "bizarre."
"When the staff lets out something like that and the entire scientific and press community push back on it, it ultimately hurts the president," he told The Atlantic earlier this month.
Hours before Fauci took the mound on Opening Day, Trump staged his own baseball photo opportunity on the White House lawn, where he joined Baseball Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera to play catch with a group of Little Leaguers and their coaches from Pennsylvania.
Trump awarded Rivera, a vocal supporter of the president, the Presidential Medal of Freedom last September.
But Trump's baseball rivalry with Fauci soon faded over the weekend, when he abruptly canceled his Yankee Stadium visit, citing scheduling conflicts.
"Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I won't be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15," Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday, referring to the coronavirus by a name many of have called racist. "We will make it later in the season!"
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yankees: President Donald Trump's first pitch plan surprised officials
