President Taft throwing the first pitch at a baseball game in 1910
He became the first president to throw a World Series Game 1 pitch.
Baseball’s early decades also witnessed the start of another tradition. The United States entered World War I in 1917. The conflict deepened many Americans’ patriotism. During the war, fans started singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the beginning of baseball games.
President Wilson on a poster for the 1917 World Series