Major League Baseball: First Lady Michelle Obama pitches at Baltimore Orioles vs Tampa Bay Rays
Is there anything the First Lady can’t do? Probably - but throwing a baseball pitch is not one of those things as she proved on Tuesday. Flanked by Orioles’ players, Jeremy Guthrie and Will Ohman, Obama took to the mound at the Orioles Park when she launched the Baseball leg of her “Let’s Move” campaign.
The First Lady has joined with Major League Baseball and the Players Association to promote her campaign against child obesity. All 30 of the league’s teams would participate in the ‘Let’s Move’ advertising campaign with 30 customized TV and radio ads. 30 players have been selected by Major League Baseball to represent each team in the ads.
The campaign promotes exercise and healthier foods and would now employ big names from MLB to drive the message home. Michelle spoke a few words of appreciation for the 30 players who had agreed to join the campaign pro-bono, emphasizing that the message in their voice carries more meaning and weight for children who idolize them.
Michelle Obama and players from Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays visited a clinic for children from local baseball teams, playing catch and cheering on as the children played during her brief stay. The First Lady showed her athletic skills and appeared completely at ease on the baseball field.
Earlier, she pitched to the Tampa Bay’s leading pitcher, David Price, who was impressed by her skill and fitness. “She did well,” Price said, adding that her pitching arm was not bad. Coming from a professional baseball player who isn’t shy of being completely honest about his opinions, that means a lot. With the bat she fared no worse. One of the youngsters threw an awry pitch headed straight at her face which she deflected skilfully.
Later, she donned a custom number 44 Orioles jersey, and marched up to the mound before the Baltimore Orioles game against the Tampa Bay Rays. However, instead of throwing the ceremonial first pitch, she let two young girls have the spotlight and honour of throwing the pitch. Before she left, Michelle went over to both dugouts and exchanged greetings and well wishes with players from both teams.
Michelle wants to do her part in educating children and creating an atmosphere in which children could “reach adulthood a healthy weight”. Michelle Obama’s baseball counterpart, wife of the MLB commissioner, Sue Selig, extended thanks to the First Lady for her part in highlighting the issue of child obesity and bringing nationwide attention to it.
Addressing children everywhere, Obama said that the entire campaign was for their benefit and it was important that the children hearing her message realized that. She took the opportunity of being surrounded by some of the finest athletes in MLB to tell children of the negative effects a lifestyle leading to obesity could have on them. "The truth is lots of kids just aren't getting enough healthy foods," she said.
Director of player relations for the MLB players association, Tony Clark, said that Major Leaguers were looking forward to working in tandem with the First Lady and getting the “Let’s Move” message to as many children as possible. He hoped their efforts would contribute towards educating children and parents about exercise, healthy diet and making healthy lifestyle choices.
Michelle has celebrity status far greater than any previous First Lady since maybe Jackie Kennedy. Her power as a celebrity, and the fact that the press would eat up anything ‘Michelle’, bodes well for the campaign.
Obesity is a growing problem in the United States. As of 2008, only the population of one state was less than 20% clinically obese. According to the Centre for Disease Control, unless trends change, obesity could become the number one cause of preventable death in America, rivalling tobacco. Annually, 300,000 deaths are associated with obesity at present.
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