Voter Political Blog

CHICAGO, IL — In the immediate aftermath of the US Presidential Election, Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams invited President-Elect Barack Obama to throw out the first pitch of the team’s 2009 season; more than a month later, the Chicago Cubs have answered with their own political celebrity, announcing today that Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin will do the honors on the North Side.

“We are very excited to have a national celebrity like Mrs. Palin join us for our April 13th home opener against the Colorado Rockies,” said current Cubs President Crane Kenny. “Especially in light of the White Sox extending an offer to President-Elect Obama, we thought it was important to move quickly and find someone who symbolizes what we’re about as a team the way Obama’s no-nonsense politics relate to the White Sox’s blue-collar style.”

Apparently Cubs management thought that Palin — perhaps most accurately described as the Paris Hilton of politics — is an appropriate representative of North Side baseball. Fans of the team are split on the issue.

“I don’t know what to think,” said 29-year-old Page Chase-Lattimer, a self-professed lifelong Cubs fan from Kenilworth who now lives in Lincoln Park. “On one hand she’s pretty hot, and obviously I think she’s a good politician who would have made a great vice president. On the other hand, though, can she throw a baseball? I mean, I’d hate to see a jinx put on the season by a bad first pitch on Opening Day.”

Katy Anderson, a Wrigleyville resident who says she grew up a Brewers fan but now roots for the Cubs, was far more excited about the news, saying that she “was already planning to go to the game, but now there’s just no question. I love that the Cubs are choosing a strong woman who is a great role model to start the season off for them. It just really shows why the Cubs are so awesome, because it’s not like they’re so worried about winning or losing that they can’t remember important things, like gender equality. I also really like those Mai-Tais they have.”

Palin was unable to attend the press conference announcing her role for the Cubs due to obligations in her job as Governor of Alaska, but did express excitement for the opportunity when by phone.

“I’m just really excited to be a part of a historic team celebrating their history,” Palin told SSNN. “For 100 years now, the Cubs have been a great example of how you don’t necessarily have to come out on top to be important, and that’s a message that is really comforting to me right now.

“I mean, if the Cubs can keep being in the limelight year after year despite the fact that they never ever win, then I have to believe my career can survive an embarrassing loss in a presidential election.”

Source: http://www.serioussportsnewsnetwork.com/2008/12/obama-to-throw-out-first-pitch-at-sox-opener-cubs-get-sarah-palin.html