PHOTOS: Justice Sotomayor throws out first pitch at Yankee game

[alsame]

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, right, a New York Yankees fan from the Bronx, New York, is escorted to the pitching mound by New York Yankees' Jorge Posada before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the Yankees played the Boston Red Sox in their baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009.





Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, left, a New York Yankees fan from the Bronx, New York, shakes hands with Yankees' catcher Jose Molina, after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the Yankees played the Boston Red Sox in their baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009.


Justice Sotomayor Throws First Pitch at Yankees Stadium

NEW YORK (AP / 1010 WINS) -- Sonia Sotomayor was right down the middle with her ceremonial pitch at Yankee Stadium.

The newest Supreme Court Justice, a Yankees fan from the Bronx, threw out the pitch before Saturday's game against the Boston Red Sox. Wearing a Yankees jersey, she was accompanied to the field by Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. Standing a bit in front of the mound, the right-hander threw on the fly to catcher Jose Molina.

After she walked back to the Yankees dugout, Sotomayor shook hands and spoke with New York manager Joe Girardi.

As a U.S. District Judge in 1995, Sotomayor issued an injunction that led baseball players to end their strike after 7 months.

http://www.1010wins.com/pages/5306632.php?contentType=4&contentId=4762172

[polichick]

1. Very cool! k&r

[Sanity Claws]

2. She throws like a girl!

I throw like that too.
I'll bet she enjoyed meeting those nice looking men.
They look like they like and respect each other.

[ShortnFiery]

3. And I love it!

Those pictures are so cool! :applause:

[BlooInBloo]

4. Likely all the SCOTUS justices throw like girls. At least she has an excuse.

:P

[robo50]

17. Yeah !!! Wish they all threw like a girl, because, they all ARE WOMEN !!!! ..so,,,

many years, only men, all 9 of them, she's the third person in the history of the USA to have female plumbing, and a real woman's outlook !!!!

[Neecy]

5. I love that first photo

A huge fan getting to throw out the first pitch, escorted by a player --- you can see it in her face.

Terrific. I really, really like her.

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. me too

[PSzymeczek]

40. She has the best smile!

She smiles with her whole face!

[Cha]

6. And 12 years later Justice Sotomayor is now on SCOTUS

and throwing out the Pitch at the first ceremonial game between the Yanks and the Redsox!

Funny ol World.

[Yavin4]

7. When Yankees v. Red Sox Comes Before the SCOTUS

She will have to recuse herself.

[NYC Liberal]

15. Hey - Scalia didn't recuse himself when the Cheney energy meeting case came up!

Why should she? :P

[rasputin1952]

33. ...

:D

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. nice pics. She looks good in the uniform. I expected to see her in the robe

[Triana]

10. COOL! Good on her. That had to be hella fun for her. n/t

[Phx_Dem]

11. She looks really cute. n/t

[Catshrink]

12. Local girl makes good.

How totally cool!

[Stephanie]

36. New York loves her!

We're very proud.

[bigwillq]

13. Awesome pics!

:bounce:

[BeyondGeography]

14. Final score: NYY 3 - BOS 0, Happy Supremes from the Bronx: 1

[robo50]

18. Should I care that the Yankees won when I'm a Sox fan? NO! I DO NOT!!!!!!

Thanks for having a great day for America, Yankees, and madame justice!

[NYC Liberal]

16. She brought us good luck! Please throw out the first pitch tomorrow too, Madam Justice!

:)

[robo50]

19. Great pics!!!!!! I don't think I have EVER seen a

Supreme Court Justice at a baseball game, in uniform, no pictures, no pitches, NOTHING!

Am I right? This is a first? So proud for her, and her team.

[goclark]

22. That is so exciting! Awesome photos and what a statement

that makes to America.

Love it!

[Neecy]

20. I love Jose Molina's expression

You can tell he's excited to meet her.

On edit: both Molina and Posada were born in Puerto Rico. Nice that they did the honors today for her.

[CTLawGuy]

21. Oh well

no one's perfect.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

23. Would you like to clarify your statement?

That seems a bit odd for a celebratory thread.

Well?

:shrug:

[CTLawGuy]

24. she's a Yankees fan

ergo no one is perfect. but I still like her, that is implicit in the statement.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

25. Ah, I thank you...

:hi:

[CTLawGuy]

31. I hope she has more integrity than the team she roots for

Not sure if you are a baseball fan, but you might find this story about Madam Justice's favorite team interesting.

It was October 9, 1996. The New York Yankees were playing game one of a playoff series, the American League Championship Series, the winner of which advances to the World Series, against the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles were leading 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth when Derek Jeter hit a long fly ball to right field. The Orioles' right fielder ran back to try and catch it, almost against the wall. As he leapt up, and with the ball mere feet from his glove, a 12 year old Yankees fan with his own glove leaned over the fence and snatched the ball. (I won't say the boy's name, you can find it easily if you want, it's not about him though) The umpire ruled it a home run, even though later replays would show that it would clearly not have been a home run. The "home run" tied the game and the Yankees went on to win the game, that series, and eventually the World Series.

But that was only the background to the story. It is expressly forbidden for any fan to interfere with a ball in play. The usual sanction for breaking this rule is for the fan to be ejected from the game. However, the Yankees did not throw him out of the game. In fact, the 12 year old became an instant New York "hero". Instead of instilling in him that interfering with a baseball game is wrong, the Yankees, the city of New York, and the NYC-centric media cheered him.

In the next few days, the boy went on Good Morning America and the Late Show with David Letterman and was hailed as a hero. Mayor Rudy Guiliani, not yet obsessed with 9/11, presented him a Key to the City (implicitly comparing him to those who save people's lives). The Yankees gave him tickets for the rest of the playoffs, so that at every game played at Yankee Stadium for the rest of that postseason, that boy was sitting right next to the Yankees dugout. It was like the plot to some kind of nauseating bizarro Disney live-action kids baseball movie.

This incident incapsulates the Yankees amoral win-at-any-cost attitude. This was one of the most shameful displays I have ever seen in sports. The boy may have been overwhelmed by the chance to catch a ball, but the people around him completely blew a chance to stand up for integrity. It's just like the Republicans who believe that making money and "success" is the only thing, that it's more important than any other consideration, that fairness and integrity don't matter.

That said, I hope (and I'm confident) that Justice Sotomayor has more integrity than her team.

[msanthrope]

42. By Curt Schilling's fake bloody sock!!! It must have tough for you today,

watching the Yanks clinch the division by sweeping your Sox.

[CTLawGuy]

45. however you get into the playoffs is fine by me.

and apparently for the Yankee$, illegal conduct that advances you in the playoffs should be celebrated on national television and with keys to the city. (How different would the reaction have been if it were Tony Tarasco at the plate and Bernie Williams who was denied the catch?)

Do you have kids? Would you want them to learn that breaking the rules is, not only ok, but to be celebrated with appearances on David Letterman, if it helps you win? How very Republican!

[msanthrope]

47. So Sotomayor is a Republican, according to you? Or just me?

I'm not following your logic, but it seems to be that because a 12 year old caught a ball--in 1996- that Tony Tarasco shoulda had, the Yankees have no integrity and Judge Sotomayor and I are Republicans for being fans.

Okay.

Of course, the fact that the Orioles won Game 2 at Yankee Stadium, which Jeffrey Maier attended, and then lost three straight at Camden Yards--where Jeffrey Maier was not in attendance, is not part of your narrative.

But holy crap--a 12 year old managed to psych out a professional baseball team by going on Letterman? Jeebus.

Okay.

Look, I understand that for 86 years, you guys had to be professional victims, and constantly search for reasons why bad things happened to good Red Sox fans***, but isn't that over now? Didn't the 2004 ALCS salve the wounds? Why are you still so bitter?


FYI--Bernie Williams wouldn't have been denied that catch. He would have been playing center field--not right field. And either Paul O'Neill, or Darryl Strawberry (both who played right field that night) would have had it.

***Babe, Buckner, Bucky, Boone, just off of the top my head.....

[CTLawGuy]

48. I didn't say anyone was a Republican

I said that it was Republican to hold success above any and all other values, including following the rules, surely you don't disagree with that. It's like when an insurance company denies someone coverage wrongfully, and the person decides not to spend the time and money fighting the decision. The insurance company celebrates because, hey, it increased its profits. Who cares if someone is denied possibly life-saving treatment? THAT'S Republican.

This isn't an argument that the Yankees 1996 WS win was illegitimate--I don't play that game. This incident did not determine the outcome of the series in any way--the good play of an unselfish TEAM did that--I give you credit. I object to the fact that this kid was practically revered by the Yankees organization, Rudy Guiliani, and the media for doing something that was wrong, that he wasn't supposed to be doing. It was the RESPONSE to this one incident that I object to. (It's a response that would have been VERY different if the tables were turned, you can't deny that.)

Also, this is not about the Red Sox. I've seen two WS championships--more than a lot of RS fans of past generations. (It's not only RS fans who dislike the Yankees, btw)
-It's about the sheer arrogance of Yankees fans (who I unfortunately have to deal with a lot), including those who pepper a substantive criticism of the behavior of the Yankee organization with substanceless potshots at the Red Sox, rather than attempting to defend the indefensible.
-It's the fans who say "it's not really a rivalry, we don't care about the Red Sox" (yeah right....)
-It's the incessant chants of "1918" to a team you "don't care about," that thankfully have been shut up forever.
-It's the fans who say that Yankees fans are "classy" and then act like complete jackasses. (We act like jackasses, but we don't say we are classy).
-It's the despicable disloyal behavior by the Steinbrenners, especially shoving Joe Torre out the door because he *only* won you four world titles, a million division titles, and took you to the playoffs (NOT easy to do) 13 years in a row.
-On a related note, it's also about the obscene salaries, wealth and privilege.
-It's the $2600 box seats that go unfilled.
-It's the constant fawning by the media--the same reason I couldn't stand the Dallas Cowboys in the 90s.
-It's about the NYC attitude of do anything, sell your soul, to get ahead.

These are what the Yankees stand for, and frankly, are against everything I stand for. Based on these things, giving an interfering fan a key to the city is unsurprising. Hey, whatever helps you win, that's the bottom line, right?

To be honest, my opinion of Sotomayor is not really affected by this. That she is a Yankees fan is not a shock to me considering she's from the Bronx. But I think she should stick to black robes rather than pinstripes, the black looks better on her.

[boppers]

26. Perhaps a future Justice appointment can help balance out the bench.

I can just imagine the congressional hearings: "Now, this isn't a litmus test, but can you speak to your feelings about the following sports teams...."

:evilgrin:

[CTLawGuy]

27. hehe

in my state, politicians keep quiet about their sports loyalties. Though Dodd was at a Sox game recently. He's a Sox fan and Lieberman is a Yankees fan. Not surprisingly.

[Jennicut]

32. I am the Yankees fan and my husband is the Sox fan. I guess its the way it goes in CT.

Love these pics!

[DesertRat]

28. K&R

[democracy1st]

29. K & R

[UrbScotty]

30. A YANKEES fan? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, MR. PRESIDENT?!

:sarcasm:

Sorry, couldn't resist!

[rasputin1952]

34. I like the way she looks in the 3rd pic, just before she lets

loose w/the pitch...she looks determined...:D

I'm glad it didn't dig a trench like a few that bush tossed out there...:rofl:


Many years ago, friends and I would go to Yankee Stadium when the Yanks played the Sox, occasionally we would make the trip to Fenway when the Yanks played up there. Always a good time...except one year when they had "bat day" in a NYY/BRS game at Yankee Stadium. They learned quickly that handing out small clubs during such a rivalry was not a good idea...:evilgrin:

BTW, I respect both teams immensely, and wish them the best of luck...but I became a Seattle Mariners fan years ago...;)

edit: dumb typo...:blush:

[Justice]

35. I am not a yankee fan.

But I say, hats off gentlemen for treating Justice Sotomayor in a very classy and elegant manner - particular Posada taking her arm to walk her to the mound.

We already have Justice Breyer rooting for the Red Sox - so this balancing on the court is okay. In fact, those Red Sox Nation members may recall that the President of Red Sox Nation, Jeremy Remy was "sworn in" by Justice Breyer.

[noiretextatique]

37. hooray for sonia!

she did ok, and she looks so happy. so nice to see someone like her and obama representing our government instead of a scowling or smirking asshole.

[uponit7771]

38. More KKKon heads exploding, I love it...

[DearAbby]

39. Aaaaaaaah she throws like a GIRL!!!

[Blue_Tires]

41. The Mets are still New York's only real team...

hopefully someone clues her in...:dunce:

[msanthrope]

43. With very real golf tee times for the 2nd week of October..... n/t

[CTLawGuy]

46. I think the Mets are alright

their fans are NYers with a conscience.

[BlueIdaho]

44. Best. Smile. Ever. nt.