There aren’t too many Americans who don’t love Dr. Fauci and baseball. After all, Dr. Fauci graduated first in his class from Cornell University Medical College in 1966 with a Doctor of Medicine, he’s served as a government scientist under six presidents and has been one of the few people in the public eye who’s been giving it to us straight.
It was no surprise that MLB and the defending champions Washington Nationals asked him to throw out the very first pitch of the 2020 MLB season. Of course, I watched because it was a nationally televised game as the Nats were playing my beloved New York Yankees.
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Dr. Fauci looked great when he took the field but I was shocked to see him go all the way to the mound, which is 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate. Many honorees who throw out the first pitch don’t go that far back. Especially not someone who is 79 years old.
A strong effort to the plate. ? Introducing the instantly iconic Dr. Fauci #ToppsNOW card!
Collect the moment – available for 24 hours only ➡️ https://t.co/ivsCJTR234 pic.twitter.com/0egpJNuyZj
— Topps (@Topps) July 24, 2020
Dr. Fauci’s pitch was “just a bit outside” to put it mildly but Topps made a baseball card from his windup. It turns out Topps made 51,512 cards and they sold out in one day at $9.99 each! And would you believe they’re now listed for as much as $9,995 on eBay?!
I know Dr. Anthony Fauci had to be embarrassed about his throw as you only get one shot. Well, we finally have some answers as he talked about his experience in an interview with Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which you can find below in the embedded tweet. Turns out Dr. Fauci was practicing from about 40 feet and not 60 feet, which explains a lot and it was raining so hard the previous day he wasn’t able to practice again.
WATCH: Dr. Anthony Fauci talks about his experience of delivering the opening pitch at Major League Baseball’s Opening Day game in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/oASGGcjh6v
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 1, 2020
