Batter up! POTUS plays catch with Little League teams at afternoon drop-by

[bigtree]

Last edited Tue May 20, 2014, 12:56 PM - Edit history (6)

Eric Schultz ‏@Schultz44 34m
POTUS plays catch with Little League team at afternoon drop-by pic.twitter.com/JEZIYo2sPM



http://t.co/XEcHnWy1T8

The president paid a surprise visit to Washington's Friendship Park, where a handful of teams were already in full swing.

Obama shook hands with the players and posed for photos with each team. He even tried his hand at pitching.

Shocked parents reached for their smartphones to snap a quick photo, but not all of their kids were as impressed. Some held back, unsure of who Obama was, until their parents led them back onto the infield.


Mark Knoller/CBS News


"Oh my God, it's the President!" one player said, according to pool reports.

Obama was on his way to a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee event when he stopped by to greet Della Carney, daughter of spokesman Jay Carney, and her teammates.

"Had to bring your dad to the game or he was going to be late," Obama said as he approached the group, according to the report.





Obama doled out high fives and took pictures with the players, making the rounds to do the same with the opposing team. He also signed a few balls.

Before leaving, the president grabbed a ball and lobbed it to home plate where Danny Ringel, 10, who plays for the Tigers caught the ball.

“You saved me from grounding,” the president reportedly joked as Danny scooped up the ball.





Stepping onto the field in a tie but no jacket, Obama shook hands with the players and posed for photos with each team.

"What's going on people? How's it going?" the president said, before sidling up to a young girl whose arm was in a sling. "Hey, what happened? Were you sliding?"


NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images






AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM


TheObamaDiary.com ‏@TheObamaDiary 28m
Imagining phone call from Friendship Park Little Leaguer: "MOM!! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHO DROPPED BY!!!!!!" pic.twitter.com/YDq0tRGSsg





TheObamaDiary.com ‏@TheObamaDiary 39m
President Obama throws out the first pitch at a little league baseball game at the Friendship Park in Washington pic.twitter.com/Kh8mvWGj6E

[SidDithers]

1. Surprising to see a Little League team using Chief Wahoo as their logo...

I kinda wish Obama had chosen a different team to drop in on.

Sid

[bigtree]

2. .

. . . I'm sure the kids would understand.

[KamaAina]

5. Indeed.

And POTUS is known to be a White Sox fan, as any good South Sider should be.

[aggiesal]

11. Went to a lot of games at old Comisky Park ...

it was way closer to home, but I'm more a [font color=red size=12]C[/font][font color=blue size=12]ubs[/font] fan.

[KamaAina]

13. I went to one

my company laid tickets on me so I could take a new recruit -- from Argentina! -- out to the old ballgame.

[TheMightyFavog]

29. 10.5 games back....

I admire the tenacity of Cubs fans. This is coming from a fan of the Brewers.

[erronis]

19. Agreed. Notice that he is almost the only white kid on the field?

And having grown up in DC I can attest to a much more diversified racial makeup there...

[JJChambers]

28. Seriously?

Do we have to beat people in the head with the political correctness hammer? FFS, Obama did a good thing here and STILL we have complaining. /sigh

[Cha]

3. POTUS having FUN! mahalo bigtree!

[bigtree]

6. POTUS having fun

. . . my pleasure, Cha!

[Cha]

9. ..

[shenmue]

4. They all had fun

Communist plot!

[calimary]

17. ROFL!

YES. They all had fun. Let the modern-day Puritans fume!

[sheshe2]

7. Play Ball!

Great pictures bigtree!

Thanks

[malaise]

8. Very very cool

Rec

[Brother Buzz]

10. I believe Sara Kropf is giddy right about now

http://nwlldc.org/wordpress/?page_id=1074

[Swede Atlanta]

12. OK I want to know if any of these players

snubbed the President, yelled "liar", attempted to stop him from stepping onto the field, etc.

Hatred, you see, is learned behavior, behavior that is taught.

These players were out there having fun and BO showed up. They were excited to meet him and have their moment in the limelight.

That is a great tribute to the power of youth - youth that has not been corrupted by hatred and division.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. More Importantly, . . .

. . .did the kids remember to ask about Benghazi?

[HipChick]

14. Ugh...this is what I hate about being in DC..

You never know where he is going to show up...until you get cut off by his motorcade

[bigtree]

15. ugh!

Twitter.com/MegCerullo

A photo of the traffic jam caused by President Obama's motorcade during his visit with D.C. little leaguers.

[KansDem]

20. One person is excited by this...

Fantastic! I love it!!! But how do you do this without using cones?

[bigtree]

22. ha!

. . . well played, KansDem

[HipChick]

21. Thanks...people don't mind as much now...but when it was Bush?

They would get pissed..

[Jamaal510]

16. I found it

kinda odd that one of the teams was rocking a "KC" hat, even though they are apparently a D.C. little league baseball team and not a Kansas City team. I wonder if the logo stands for a place around there that happens to have "KC" as its acronym...

[Jimbo S]

25. Kansas City Royals

The teams are fashioned after MLB teams. In the pics one can see Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals.

[Iliyah]

18. K & R!

Oh wait look over there - B E N G H A Z I

Thanks for the pics, good to see Prez O enjoying himself.

[Submariner]

23. You people are so gullible

you're so blinded by your love of Little League Baseball, you missed the point that this is all a planned distraction from Benghazi and the president's skin color.

Stay vigilant!11!!

[Frustratedlady]

26. He is so cool.

I'll bet he yearns to be able to get out of the car whenever he wants and join in the fun...ice cream, included.

[47of74]

27. I suppose the Tea Klux Klan will have positive, insightful comments.