The Houston Astros got an extra special boost before Game 5 of the 2017 World Series.
The team played host to our greatest living former presidents, Presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush, in the pre-game ceremonies before facing the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bush 41, who is, of course, wheelchair-bound, handed the baseball off to his son. Bush 43 took the ball, walked determinedly toward the mound, then turned around and threw what looked to be a great first pitch. (The Fox camera somehow managed to miss it being caught.)
Beautiful moment before #WorldSeries.
43 gets a little help from 41 to toss out first pitch. pic.twitter.com/ZcdG6pxRvR
— Austin Kellerman (@AustinKellerman) October 30, 2017
After the ceremonial first pitch, President George H. W. Bush got on the microphone to say, “Play ball!”
The Texan father/son duo has deep ties to the state and baseball.
In 2015, President H. W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Houston Astros playoff game, not only from his wheelchair but while wearing a neck brace after fracturing a vertebrae in his neck earlier that year!
President George W. Bush also threw out first pitches during the 2010 and 2011 World Series when the team he owned in the 1990s, the Texas Rangers, hosted in the main event.
Today just so happens to be the 16th anniversary of the greatest first pitch of all time, President George W. Bush’s World Series pitch in New York after 9/11. Bush memorably threw a perfect pitch right down the middle, all while wearing a bullet-proof vest, in Game 3 between the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Relive the historic moment:
With a little luck from the Bushes, the Astros won 13-12 in extra innings and lead the Series 3-2. The teams head back to Los Angeles for Game 6 Tuesday night.
Who are you rooting for in the World Series? Tell us in the comments below!
