Trump, Wife Delight Braves Fans, Upset Liberal Writers by Doing Tomahawk Chop at World Series

Donald Trump and crowd at the MLB Braves World Series game, doing the tomahawk chop

Former President Donald Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump joined Atlanta Braves fans Saturday night in doing the team’s signature Tomahawk Chop during a raucous Game 4 of the World Series.

The Trumps attended the game in a suite at Atlanta’s Truist Stadium, where the hometown team was playing the Houston Astros. The Braves won 3-2 to take a 3-1 advantage in the series.

The former first family joined in when fans started the Chop. Their participation lit up liberals and some sports writers on Twitter.

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Sticky Baseballs: The Physics of Major League Baseball’s Latest Scandal

Close-up of a baseball mitt and ball

Cheating in baseball is as old as the game itself, and pitchers’ modifying the ball’s surface is part of that long history. Adding to the lore of cheating is a new scandal involving pitchers who may be applying sticky substances – what players refer to as “sticky stuff” – to baseballs.

Major League hitters are striking out this season nearly one in every four times they step to the plate, compared with one in six times in 2005.

As a sports physicist and longtime baseball fan, I’ve been intrigued by news reports that applying sticky substances to balls can make pitches spin faster. And if pitchers can throw their fastballs, curveballs and sliders with more spin than in previous years, their pitches will be tougher to hit. How does science explain all this?

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Commentary: A Presidential Wild Pitch?

Biden and the All-Star Game

The president loves baseball, and has said the earliest memories he has are of the sport: a glove under his pillow the night before his first game and a too-big Little League jersey that hung past his knees. Given a chance to pick between an inning on the mound in the majors or the vice presidency, a much younger Joe Biden wouldn’t hesitate.

“I would have pitched!” the then-vice president told a crowd gathered for the final game of the 2009 Little League World Series, before following through with his trademark addendum, “By the way, I’m not kidding.”

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Commentary: Baseball Season, Our Distorted View of COVID-19, and What the Facts Tell Us

If you’re not convinced that Americans have been sold a distorted view of COVID-19 risk, consider Major League Baseball.

Most of the league’s players are among the 46 million Americans between ages 25 and 34. A total of 992 people in this age group have died with COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a mortality rate of 2 per 100,000.

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Commentary: New Evidence Shows Key Fans Unhappy with Sports Leagues Kowtowing to Black Lives Matter

If anyone was hoping that the return of the long-awaited Major League season would lift our spirits and bring us together, they had to be disappointed to learn that we are more divided than ever over the National Anthem kneeling debate. And although President Trump has not chosen to join the burgeoning #BoycottMLB movement on Twitter, the president has joined a growing number of disheartened baseball fans who are unhappy that their favorite teams are taking the knee. Even before the start of the season, President Trump tweeted that he was “looking forward to live sports, but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag, the game is over for me!”

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St. Paul Saints to Play Season in Sioux Falls for Now Because of ‘Capacity Restrictions’

The St. Paul Saints announced Friday that the team will be participating in a 60-game season beginning July 3, but all games will be played in Sioux Falls, South Dakota until “capacity restrictions for outdoor events have relaxed.”

The American Association of Independent Professional Baseball said the shortened season will run from July 3 to September 10, concluding with a championship series between the top two teams. The league will consist of six teams based in three separate hubs.

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Is Your Representative Playing In The Congressional Baseball Game?

Congressional baseball game group photo

by Evie Fordham   Sixty members of Congress will take the field for the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity on Thursday night in Washington, D.C. Click here to find the complete roster. Twenty-four Democrats and 36 Republicans will face each other at Nationals Park. Notable politicians playing include Republicans Sen. Rand Paul…

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