WASHINGTON — He started the day with cheers and ended it with jeers. Hours after announcing the death of one of the world's most notorious terrorists, President Trump found little love at the World Series.
In his first appearance at a Major League Baseball game since taking office, Mr. Trump was not invited to throw the first pitch when he showed up Sunday night at Game 5 between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros. Instead, when he was shown on the stadium's large screen, the crowd booed robustly and began chanting, "Lock him up!" In the upper decks, fans held up a giant "Impeach Trump!" banner.
The unfriendly reaction may explain his reluctance to take himself out to the ballpark until now. Although he has boasted of his time as team captain for the baseball squad at the New York Military Academy and in the past happily offered regular commentary on the game, before Sunday Mr. Trump had never attended a professional baseball contest while living in the White House, an unusually prominent break from the national pastime for a sitting president.
Conceding nothing to the moment, Mr. Trump arrived at the park dressed in his trademark dark suit, white shirt and red tie. Perhaps knowing that he might not draw a warm welcome in a city where he received just 4 percent of the vote in 2016, Mr. Trump brought his own fan club in the form of a dozen Republican members of Congress who rode over from the White House in a minibus included in his motorcade.Among them were fervent defenders like Representatives Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Matt Gaetz of Florida, as well as Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was with him at the White House earlier in the day for the announcement of the raid that led to the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State. But some who have been tough on his foreign policy decisions recently were included as well, including Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
The president was given one of the Washington Suites on the first level of Nationals Park to the left of home plate, and he sat between his wife, Melania Trump, and Senator David Perdue of Georgia. He gave no indication of whether he was rooting for the Nationals or Astros, neither offering any particular reaction when Carlos Correa hit a two-run homer to put Houston up 4-0 over the home team nor joining in the "baby shark" cheers favored by Washington fans.
For the Nationals organization, Mr. Trump's decision to attend the game presented a challenge. Long before the president informed baseball officials that he would come, the Nationals had asked José Andrés, the celebrity chef and humanitarian, to throw out the first pitch. Even if unintended, it was a bit of trolling, given that Mr. Andrés has been a vocal critic of the president.
Mr. Andrés backed out of plans to open a restaurant in the Trump International Hotel in Washington after Mr. Trump's incendiary comments about Mexican immigrants while opening his presidential campaign in 2015. Mr. Trump then sued Mr. Andrés. The lawsuit was settled in 2017, but Mr. Andrés has continued to criticize the president.
"More than 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico, and actually President Trump, as the leader of America, has a lot of blame to take," Mr. Andrés said after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2018.
Before Mr. Trump's arrival, Mr. Andrés was cheered warmly as he threw the ceremonial first pitch to Ryan Zimmerman, who thrust forward to make sure it did not hit the dirt. So were the other four presidents in the park, the mascots who run a Presidents Race each game. ("Teddy" Roosevelt won.)
But Mr. Trump was different. The Lerner family, which owns the Nationals, asked Major League Baseball not to let them be put in a position to respond to any requests that Mr. Trump sit with them during the game, according to WUSA9, the CBS television affiliate in Washington.
Instead, the family did what politeness required and no more. Mr. Trump entered the stadium to no fanfare around 8 p.m., just minutes before the opening pitch. Fans who happened to see him booed. He was not introduced to the crowd until after the third inning, when he was shown on the screen during the portion of the game when the crowd is asked to cheer for military veterans.
Juxtaposing his introduction with that of the popular veterans did nothing to prevent the crowd from expressing its view of the president. Mr. Trump, who rarely exposes himself to hostile crowds, stood, smiled gamely and clapped as the fans booed loudly.
The crowds jerked when Trump’s picture appeared on the stadium screens.
Some in the section below him turned to him, shouting and jabbing fingers. The president, who faces impeachment by the House over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to provide incriminating information about Democrats, then found himself on the receiving end of a chant that might have sounded familiar.
"Lock him up!" the crowd chanted, a turnabout from the "lock her up" his supporters would chant about Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Mr. Trump offered no noticeable reaction and took his seat as the game resumed before slipping out in the eighth inning.
Peter Baker, New York Times, October 27, 2019
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October 28, 2019
Voices4America Post Script. For Trump, no joy in Mudville! - booed at Game 5 of the World Series - not invited to throw the 1st pitch. This is amazing to read about. @realDonaldTrump can't go to a baseball game without being booed! We the people reject him! and even shouted “Lock him up!” #ImpeachRemove.Then America can be America again.
