President Donald Trump says hell throw out first pitch before Red Sox-Yankees game on Aug. 15 – MassLive.com

President Donald Trump will throw out the first pitch before the Red Sox-Yankees game on Aug. 15 at Yankee Stadium, he told reporters at The White House on Thursday. The rivals are scheduled for a 7:07 p.m. first pitch on FOX that night.

Answering a question about the start of baseball season, Trump said Yankees president Randy Levine had invited him to throw out a first pitch later this summer. A Yankees official confirmed to NJ.coms Brendan Kuty that Trump had been invited.

Baseball, as an example, youre going to be at an empty stadium, Trump told reporters in Washington, D.C. Ive agreed... Randy Levine is a great friend of mine, from the Yankees. He asked me to throw out the first pitch. I think Im doing that on Aug. 15 at Yankee Stadium. I said, Hows the crowd going to be?' Its like, you dont have a crowd. There is no such thing.

Its going to be interesting, Mariano, Trump said, turning to former Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who was in attendance. Hes not used to that. Ive been to many games where he walks in and the place goes crazy. I think it would be just as good without the crowd. You were just born with it. Some people are born with it.

On Tuesday morning, Trump sent a tweet discouraging national anthem protests after multiple members of the Giants, including manager Gabe Kapler and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, kneeled during the anthem before an exhibition game against the Athletics.

Looking forward to live sports, but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag, the game is over for me! Trump tweeted.

Asked about the teams policy on anthem protests earlier this week, Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said he did not believe any players were planning on kneeling this season but vowed support for any type of demonstrations.

We havent told players you have to do anything, Roenicke said. Weve given them the rights, which is what this country is all about, and the freedom to do what they feel strongly about. We have said what we think and what we would like them to do, but we have also given them the opportunity to express themselves.

This organization is okay with it, he continued. If they want to take a knee, they can take a knee. I dont know that anybodys going to do that, but if they want to, we support them in whatever they want to do.