Fauci to throw out first pitch for Washington Nationals home opener

Anthony Fauci will throw out the first pitch of the Washington Nationals home opener on Thursday, according to a Monday afternoon announcement from the team. 

Dr. Fauci to throw out first pitch at Nationals Park for Yanks-Nats on Thursday night. https://t.co/FrCsOTzxgo

— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) July 20, 2020

“Dr. Fauci has been a true champion for our country during the Covid-19 pandemic and throughout his distinguished career, so it is only fitting that we honor him as we kick off the 2020 season and defend our World Series Championship title,” the team wrote in an official statement. 

The Nationals are playing the New York Yankees and Fauci, a native of Brooklyn who now lives in Washington, D.C., has said he’s a fan of both teams. He has appeared in public several times in recent weeks wearing a Washington Nationals face mask.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a prominent member of the White House coronavirus task force, has been among the most trusted sources of information for Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. 

A recent poll from The New York Times and Siena College showed 76 percent of respondents saying they trusted Fauci for “accurate information” about the pandemic. In the same poll, just 26 percent said they trusted President Trump on coronavirus information.

Trump was loudly booed when attending a World Series game in October in Washington, D.C., but has been cheered at other sporting events, including the college football national championship game between LSU and Clemson at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. 

The former real estate mogul has thrown out first pitches at two game — in 2006 in Boston and 2000 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field — but hasn’t done so as president.