On July 11, 1989,
President Ronald Reagan sportscasts the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
The
1989 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
was the sixtieth playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL)
and National League
(NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball.
The
game was held at Anaheim
Stadium in Anaheim,
California, the home of the California
Angels of the American League.
The
game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 5-3. The
game is remembered for Bo
Jackson's monstrous lead-off home run to center field. Jackson was named
the game's MVP.
The
game also featured former U.S.
President and former baseball announcer Ronald Reagan sharing the
NBC
broadcast booth with Vin
Scully for the first inning.
The
pregame ceremonies featured Disney characters joining this year's players in
sprinting onto the field for the introduction of the starting lineups. Doc Severinsen later led
The Tonight Show Band in the playing
of the Canadian and U.S. national
anthems.
Severinsen
and The Tonight
Show Band's performance of the U.S. National Anthem was the last non-vocal
performance of the Anthem at the All-Star Game to date.
The
ceremonial first pitch was thrown by longtime Angels coach Jimmie Reese.
This
would not be Reagan’s first time on television as Reagan moved first to Iowa after graduating college to
work as a radio broadcaster and then, in 1937, to Los Angeles where he began a
career as an actor, first in films and later television.
Reagan
served as President of the Screen Actors Guild
and later as a spokesman for General Electric (GE);
his start in politics occurred during his work for GE.
Though an early critic of television, Reagan landed fewer
film roles in the late 1950s and decided to join the medium. He was
hired as the host of General Electric Theater, a series
of weekly dramas that became very popular.
His final work as a professional actor was as host and
performer from 1964 to 1965 on the television series Death Valley Days.
Check out the video below of Ronald Reagan broadcasting the 1989 MLB All-Star Game:
No comments:
Post a Comment