When baseball kicks off its 2020 season with the Yankees visiting Washington this week, it will be like no other opener in history – from empty stands to the late July date. But the game will be a nod to convention in one important way, by reviving a rich 20th century tradition that often pitted the two powerful cities against each other on Opening Day.
The old Washington Senators would often start the season in DC a day before the rest of the American League in what was known as the “presidential opener,” when the president would throw out the first ball.