Bush Makes His Pitch

President Bush helped kick off the 2006 Major League Baseball season Monday, sending a pitch high and wide to Cincinnati Reds catcher Jason LaRue, as a sellout crowd roared.

The president took the mound for the ceremonial first pitch on an overcast day at the Great American Ball Park wearing a black Reds jacket, walking along with a pair of war veterans and the father of a soldier killed in Iraq.

Mr. Bush visited both the Reds and the Chicago Cubs in their clubhouses before the game, accepting a bat from Cincinnati star Ken Griffey Jr.

Mr. Bush made history as the first sitting president to do the Opening Day honors for the Reds. His father, former President George H.W. Bush, helped inaugurate the ballpark by throwing a ceremonial ball three years ago.

The Reds have played a home game before a sitting president only one other time — and that was Cincinnati native William Howard Taft. President Nixon threw a pitch before the 1970 All-Star Game at Riverfront Stadium.

No problems were reported outside the stadium. A handful of college-age demonstrators banged on plastic buckets while displaying a sign that said "Stop the War."

Nearby, church volunteers handed out free packs of Big Red gum bearing a sticker that said "A small way to say God loves you."

The Bush White House has been called the "baseball White House" because of the president's love of the game, reports CBS News correspondent Peter Maer.

Mr. Bush, a former part-owner and managing general partner of the Texas Rangers, once recalled meeting baseball legends Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. "At that moment I said all three of us have something in common," he said. "We wanted to be big league stars. One of us peaked a little early."

Mr. Bush has also said he never dreamed of being president. He wanted to be Willie Mays, Maer reports.