We are not entirely sure when the idea of a "Presidential First Pitch" began, but we know that William McKinley, whilst still the Governor of Ohio, threw a ball on to the field before an Ohio vs Columbus game in 1890. He would later become President, but not for another seven years. However he probably does still count as the first President ever to have thrown a First Pitch.
The idea of having some local celebrity or politician starting a baseball game almost certainly goes back way longer, in the same way that the Mayor or Mayoress opens a local fete.
The first actual President in office to throw a Presidential First Pitch was William Taft, in 1910. Whilst the President to have thrown the most, during his time in Office, was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who threw eleven. This is beaten only if we include both Presidents Bush, who have each thrown fourteen, but before and after they were President.
Our man, Barack Obama, actually threw the first ball of the 2005 American League Championship Series, but he was not yet President, he was only a Senator from Illinois. That is not the game shown on this card though, our picture coming from the Major League All Star Game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 14th, 2009, an annual event in which players from various teams throughout the American and National Leagues get together. And Barack Obama also threw the first pitch the following year, which is depicted on card PFP-10 of this series, and which was also the hundredth anniversary of that date we mentioned earlier, when William Taft did the honours.
The idea of having an "Opening Day" set of cards began in 1998, with a set of just 165 cards, released in April 1998, and it all sprang from a thought, by Major League Baseball themselves, as to why there was no cheap set for children to collect, in order to foster the collecting bug from an early age. Most of the cards were similar to the standard 1988 base set, except for the fact that the borders were silver, and that there was a silver foiled "Opening Day" logo on the front of each card. Also the cards were not numbered in the same order, and some were different. But the most different thing of all is that there were only 165 cards, no inserts or promos, and nothing to discourage the children from the prospect of getting a full set relatively quickly. They were also cheaper than the standard cards, just 99 cents a pack of seven cards, rather than the $1.99 for sixteen cards that the standard version cost.
The following year the cards were very similar, but an extra card was added to each of the packs, making seven. Again there were just 165 cards in the base set, but there were, for the first time, other cards available - one of these had a shadow of a baseball player and a date, and if any player hit a grand slam on that date you could send the card back and be entered into a sweepstakes in which the grand prize was a trip for two people to the 1999 All Star Game. There was also an autograph card, of Hank Aaron from the Atlanta Braves. And if you bought something known as a blaster box, a complete box of cards, inside it you would find a larger card, measuring 3 1/4" x 4 1/2". There were three of these cards available to collect - Sammy Sosa from the Chicago Cubs, Mark McGwire from the St. Louis Cardinals, and Ken Griffey Jr from the Seattle Mariners.
The cards continued to be produced every year until 2007, when there was a change, because for the first time there was a Hobby edition, with parallel cards.
In 2009 there was no "Opening Day" set at all, and no word as to why. It returned the following year though, and has continued ever since.
Our set was issued on March the 5th, 2011, which was a month before the actual opening day. The cards are still based on the standard set, but now there are 220 cards, plus a parallel set with blue borders and special numbers, and four printing plate cards (in black, cyan, magenta and yellow) for each of the base set cards. Then there are Autograph cards, and seven different insert sets - "Mascots", "Opening Day Stars", "Spot the Error", "Stadium Lights", "Superstar Celebrations". "Topps Attax" cards, "Topps Town", "Toys R`Us", "Under the Lights", and our set "Presidential First Pitches", a set which comprises :
- PFP-1 - Barack Obama, 2009
- PFP-2 - Harry Truman, 1951
- PFP-3 - Calvin Coolidge, 1924
- PFP-4 - Ronald Reagan, 1988
- PFP-5 - Richard Nixon, 1969
- PFP-6 - Woodrow Wilson, 1916
- PFP-7 - George W. Bush, 2005
- PFP-8 - George W. Bush, 2001
- PFP-9 - John F. Kennedy, 1962
- PFP-10 - Barack Obama, 2010