Bridgeville Mayor Betty Copeland threw out the first pitch of the baseball/softball season at Chartiers Park last weekend.
Typically, celebrities and politicians throwing ceremonial first pitches stick to the basics and try to guide a simple strike over the middle of home plate. But the borough’s 83-year-old mayor mixed it up for the opening day crowd with an off-speed pitch that one-hopped just outside of the strike zone.
Not only was it a decent effort for an octogenarian public official, but Copeland’s Fernando Valenzuela-esque change-up was far, far better than the ceremonial first pitches thrown by many younger and presumably more athletic celebrities, including:
50 Cent
Carly Rae Jepsen
Mariah Carey
Baba Booey
Snoop Dogg
All of the Kardashians
George W. Bush
Just kidding. Whatever your opinion on W’s presidential legacy, he was easily the greatest ceremonial pitch thrower that our nation has ever produced. It wasn’t just the strikes he threw, but that he threw them at clutch moments. Betty Copeland is a better pitcher than most people who risk it all on the mound , but #43 had an arm the likes of which we may never see again.