Take Them Out to the Ballgame – First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden to Attend World Series Game Wednesday
EmailABC News’ Karen Travers and Yunji de Nies report:
First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will be in the stands at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night for Game One of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies.
But first the two women will pay a visit to patients at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx to play a part in Major League Baseball’s focus on community service.
MLB has dedicated the first four games of the World Service to promoting community service, similar to this summer’s All-Star game.
Tomorrow night’s game in New York will be focused on welcomebackveterans.org, an organization that has awarded $5.8 million in grants to non-profit agencies across the country targeting veterans’ greatest needs, including mental health and job training/placement.
“We are looking forward to welcoming the First Lady and Dr. Biden to Yankee Stadium and Game One of the 2009 World Series,” said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig in a statement. “We hope their presence at both the game and the hospital visit will be an inspiration to the veterans, who proudly served our country.”
Both Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden have made outreach to military families and veterans a signature issue in their policy portfolio and have spoken recently about the need to provide quality care to the nation's veterans.
Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden will be joined at the VA Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon by Bob DuPuy, president and COO of Major League Baseball, and representatives from the Yankees organization.
Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden also will take part in the pre-game ceremonies honoring veterans at Yankee Stadium.
They will escort Yankee legend and World War II veteran Yogi Berra and Iraq veteran Tony Odierno out to the mound, where Odierno will throw the ceremonial first pitch.
Odierno is a West Point graduate who lost his arm while serving in Iraq. He was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor and a Purple Heart and now works for the Yankees in Stadium Operations. Tony is the son of General Raymond T. Odierno, the current Commanding General of the Multi-National Force in Iraq.
Both Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden will stick around for Game One, which features Dr. Biden’s beloved Phillies.
She was at the game in Philadelphia last October when the Phillies clinched the World Series over the Tampa Bay Rays and her husband ,Vice President Joe Biden, has called her “the most rabid” Phillies fan.
-Karen Travers and Yunji de Nies
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Boos or cheers?
Posted by: Sigmonde | October 27, 2009, 8:16 pm 8:16 pm
“Boos or cheers?”
Its Yogi along with an injured war vet who works for the Yankees throwing out the 1st pitch.
Unless Jill Biden shows up in a Philly Phanatic costume the Yankee Stadium crowd will be cheering.
Posted by: Ryan C | October 27, 2009, 8:23 pm 8:23 pm
Well choreographed.
Posted by: Sigmonde | October 27, 2009, 8:29 pm 8:29 pm
Will he be working on his “Afghanistan strategy” in between innings and hot dogs?
jus’ checkin’
Posted by: tc | October 27, 2009, 8:57 pm 8:57 pm
“Will he be working on his “Afghanistan strategy” in between innings and hot dogs?
jus’ checkin’”
tc | Oct 27, 2009 8:57:47 PM
Can you read? It sounds like the President will not be going.
And it’s not like the hang up on the Afghan policy that he personally has to finish typing it up. At this point even if he has all the reports and dossiers he needs it would be foolish to release it before the revote – it won’t help our boys any (we already have 13k additional troops enroute, sent by Obama at the start of this month) and it would be wasting the leverage on Karzi to ensure a clean vote this time.
Posted by: jhw539 | October 27, 2009, 9:14 pm 9:14 pm
nice, but surely the president can find her something else to do. So far as first lady she has dug a garden, hoola hooped, and taken bo for a walk and maybe worn some really “neato” outfits. There has got to be more.
Posted by: rachel | October 28, 2009, 11:06 am 11:06 am
nice, but surely the president can find her something else to do. So far as first lady she has dug a garden, hoola hooped, and taken bo for a walk and maybe worn some really “neato” outfits. There has got to be more.
Posted by: rachel | Oct 28, 2009 11:06:23 AM
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And she’s taken quite a few vacations, as well.
Posted by: jennifert7 | October 28, 2009, 2:40 pm 2:40 pm
“And she’s taken quite a few vacations, as well.”
____________________________________
When you criticize the first lady for taking vacations, its worth remembering that the President George W. Bush had already taken 3 full weeks at his Texas ranch and returned to Washington just in time to get caught off guard by 9/11.
Posted by: julieterra | October 28, 2009, 3:06 pm 3:06 pm