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Nationals add William Howard Taft as new racing president

Taft Getty

The Presidents’ Race at Nationals Park lost a little bit of juice after the Nationals let Teddy win, so the team is hoping that a new addition to the race will keep fans interested. While all sorts of names were thrown around over the past few days, the Nationals have settled on a pretty logical choice to join George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt. And no, I’m not talking about Nixon.

Yes, the Nationals have chosen William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States. There’s actually a pretty neat baseball tie-in here, as Taft began the presidential tradition of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on April 14, 1910 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

Taft and Roosevelt were noted political rivals, so we should see all sorts of choreographed hijinks between the two this year at Nationals Park. Oh, and the team should be pretty good, too.