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Donald Trump says he'll attend World Series if there's a Game 5 on Sunday

Donald Trump is going to the World Series if the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros need a Game 5 on Sunday. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
Donald Trump is going to the World Series if the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros need a Game 5 on Sunday. (Getty Images)

President Donald Trump told reporters that he is planning to attend the World Series on Sunday if it goes to a fifth game.

The president confirmed his plans during Thursday's Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony with businessman Roger Penske.

The Washington Nationals hold a 2-0 lead in the series after defeating the Houston Astros in Games 1 and 2 at Minute Maid Park. If the Nationals are able to win Games 3 and 4 when the series moves to Nationals Park in Washington D.C. this weekend, the series will end and Game 5 scheduled for Sunday will not be necessary.

Weather could also be a factor if Game 5 is necessary. Washington D.C.’s forecast calls for a 90-percent chance of rain.

Could Donald Trump throw out the first pitch?

When asked if throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 5 would be an option, Trump indicated that would be a long shot.

“I don’t know," he told reporters on Thursday. "They got to dress me up in a lot of heavy armor. I’ll look too heavy. I don’t like that.”

USA Today's Bob Nightengale notes that every sitting president since William Taft in 1910 has thrown out at least one ceremonial first pitch, either for opening day, the All-Star Game, or the World Series.

Trump has not yet joined that group.

Nationals announce humanitarian will throw first pitch

Update (10/25 8:22 a.m.): The Nationals announced in a release that José Andrés will throw out the first pitch if there’s a Game 5 on Sunday.

Andrés is an internationally recognized chef who founded the “World Central Kitche,” a non-profit providing smart food solutions to end hunger and poverty. He opened one on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., during the January 2019 furlough to feed federal workers during the government shutdown.

He based many of his first restaurants in the District in the early 1900s after emigrating from Spain.

The chef and humanitarian was twice named to Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” list (2012, ’18) and was awarded both the “Outstanding Chef” and “Humanitarian of the Year” awards by the James Beard Foundation.

Andres made headlines during a two-year legal fight with Trump after the chef pulled out of opening a restaurant in his D.C. hotel in 2015. The dispute was centered around immigration.

Past presidents at the World Series

Woodrow Wilson was the first president to attend a World Series game in 1915. He’s also one of six sitting presidents that have thrown out a ceremonial first pitch before a World Series game. That list includes Calvin Coolidge (twice), Herbert Hoover (twice), Dwight Eisenhower (1955), Jimmy Carter (1979).

George W. Bush became the sixth when he famously threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium less than two months after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

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