ARLINGTON, Texas — Former President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 1 of the World Series to former Texas Rangers catcher Iván “Pudge” Rodriguez, bouncing the throw from the front of the mound.
Bush, a former Texas governor, spent 1989-94 as managing partner of the Rangers, who are playing the Arizona Diamondbacks.
When he was president, Bush famously threw out the first pitch of the first World Series game in New York after 9/11 terrorist attacks, making that toss from the rubber without a bounce.
Before this first pitch, Bush reminisced with former Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, now a TV analyst, about Jeter telling him he had to throw from the mound and couldn’t bounce the pitch in 2001, or else he would get booed.
“Well, this is Texas,” Jeter said Friday in a brief interview from the tunnel behind the Texas dugout on the first-base side. “You bounce it, they won’t boo you.”
“No, no,” Bush replied. “It doesn’t matter now.”
Bush wore a white jacket with the Rangers’ red “T” logo on the chest, while the Hall of Famer Rodriguez wore his familiar No. 7 jersey.
Rodriguez was still playing the last time the Rangers reached the World Series in 2010 and 2011. The 13-time Gold Glove player and 14-time All-Star spent his first 12 seasons with the Rangers, and part of a 13th season in his 21-year career.
Bush, the 43rd president, twice threw out ceremonial first pitches with his late father, George H.W. Bush, the 41st president. They paired up before Game 4 of the 2010 World Series in Arlington, Texas, and Game 5 in Houston in 2017. The younger Bush lives in Dallas.
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