On the 24th anniversary of 9/11, the New York Yankees commemorated the moment with a visit from President Donald Trump.
The president received both applause and some audible boos at Yankee Stadium when he appeared on the big screen during the national anthem and an in-game introduction, flanked by team co-owner Hal Steinbrenner and president Randy Levine. In making the appearance, Trump became the third sitting president to attend a Yankees game, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch.
The first two: George W. Bush in his post-9/11 World Series first-pitch appearance and Warren G. Harding in 1923.
Notably, Trump’s second appearance was interrupted on the Yankees’ YES Network by a commercial for season-ticket sales.
Trump addressed the Yankees’ players in the clubhouse before the game, reminiscing about late owner George Steinbrenner, predicting a World Series run for the team and taking credit for a 10-game win streak for the Boston Red Sox after some of their players visited him at the White House in July.
“George Steinbrenner was a great friend of mine, the whole family, it’s a great family. Randy is wonderful, and I gotta say, you’re gonna win. George used to go, for some reason, I don’t know what it was, we won every time I came. Randy, is that right. Every time we came, we’d win a game. He’d call me. You think that was easy, sitting with him for a game, it wasn’t. It was brutal. You were exhausted at the end, but he won. And you’re going to win. You’re going to go all the way. You’ll get in the playoff, and I think we’ll start — how about tonight? We’ll start from tonight, and you’re going to do well.
“Randy was telling me, the Boston Red Sox came to the Oval Office, they wanted to come. What am I going to do, say no? And they won 15 games in a row. I just want to wish you guys a lot of luck. You’re great players, I know every one of you.”
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The Yankees entered Thursday 3.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East, in a tie for second with the Red Sox. They currently hold one of the AL’s three wild-card spots.
There was also a group photo, with some fans noting the absences of players Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice.
As with the US Open men’s singles final, Trump’s attendance resulted in a litany of increased security measures. Fans were advised to arrive three hours before first pitch and be ready for TSA-style screening, with no bags allowed except for small, clutch-type bags a maximum of 6.5 inches in length.
Trump watched the game from behind three panes of protective glass.
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