Biden, 78, declines invitation to throw out first pitch at Nationals game

President Biden made history when he became the oldest person ever elected to the White House, but he won't make history on the baseball diamond this year.

Biden was invited to throw out the first pitch during opening day of the Washington Nationals baseball team, when the nation's capital's team faces with the New York Mets, but he declined.

"President Biden will not be throwing out the first pitch at Opening Day at Nationals Park Thursday," a Washington Post sports reporter tweeted. "When asked, Nats confirmed he will not throw out the first pitch, but a spokeswoman said 'We look forward to welcoming President Biden to Nationals Park in the future.' "

Last year, the Nationals invited Dr. Anthony Fauci, an immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who served on former President Trump's White House coronavirus task force and is now President Biden's chief medical adviser on COVID-19, to throw out the first pitch.

Facui, then 81, threw the pitch into the dirt about 20 feet left of home plate.

Biden, a former high school baseball standout, threw out the first pitch at Camden Yards in Baltimore in 2009 – sending it high across the plate.

William Howard Taft began the tradition of presidents throwing out the first pitch in Washington in 1910. Since then, every sitting president has hurled a ceremonial pitch while Washington's had a major-league team – except Trump.

Biden most recently raised eyebrows about his agility when he stumbled repeatedly earlier this month when walking up the stairs to board Air Force One. 

In November, Biden suffered breaks in his foot while playing with his German shepherd dog Major. 

"Initial X-rays did not show any obvious fracture, but his clinical exam warranted more detailed imaging," Dr. Kevin O’Connor of George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates said at the time. "Follow-up CT scan confirmed hairline (small) fractures of President-elect Biden’s lateral and intermediate cuneiform bones, which are in the mid-foot."