The presidents race in the middle of the fourth inning has been a tradition at Nationals games for the past nine years. For several years, these included the presidents of Mount Rushmore (Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington). In 2013, William Howard Taft was added with the Rushmore Four. This year, Calvin Coolidge is added making six presidents racing starting with tonight's home game against the San Francisco Giants.
The following is via fellow blog letteddywin.com:
The Washington Nationals will introduce a sixth racing president Friday night at Nationals Park.
In an exclusive granted to Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post, the team announced Wednesday that the nation’s 30th president would join George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft in an increasingly crowded field during the fourth inning race.
Coolidge was a proponent of the national pastime. Despite being just a one-term president, he holds the presidential record for World Series games attended, and threw out six first pitches for the Washington Senators.
With the move, the Nationals are following a recent trend in the world of racing mascots, in which teams such as the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates have continued to add “flavors” to their racing sausages, pierogies, etc.
Of course, the Nationals marketing team is hoping that the addition of “Silent Cal” to the home game ritual creates more interest than would a Jalapeno-flavored dumpling.
“We love the fact that you can come to a Nationals game and walk out smarter,” Valerie Camillo, the team’s Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer told the Post. “Look, if we have a handful of kids in that crowd that say ‘who’s Calvin Coolidge?’ and go open their encyclopedias and learn a little bit more about Silent Cal, that’s a win for us.”
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