The national pastime was once more its old half-heroic, half-comic self:
On opening day, the big-name veterans looked as good as they had been touted. The Indians' Bobby Feller and the Yankees' Spud Chandler pitched shutouts. The Tigers' Hank Greenberg and the Yankees' Joe Di Maggio hit home runs. The Red Sox's Ted Williams smacked the longest ball (440 ft.) seen in Washington's Griffith Stadium in 15 years.
While sportswriters (who had pegged him as "Lefty" Truman) held their breath, the President juggled the season's "first ball" in his right hand. At the last minute, he changed and lofted it out with his...
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