In today’s Impromptus, I begin with remarks about presidential first pitches. Obama is to do the ceremonial job at the All-Star Game. And a reader has written in with a memory. We’re all supposed to be against Reagan nostalgia, a debilitating affliction, but indulge, just a little:

Jay,
One of my best moments in law school was when we went to Chicago for the weekend and took in a Cubs game. We were out in the bleachers, enjoying the day (and the beverages), when I realized that the game was late in starting. I looked toward the famous grandstand, and saw that Chicago’s finest were now lining the roof. We looked down, and there was the Gipper, wearing a Cubs jacket, headed out to the mound escorted by the Cubs’ ballgirl. After acknowledging the applause, he reared back like a pitcher from one of the old movies and threw a strike to Jody Davis, the Cubs’ catcher. But what else would you expect from President Reagan?
It was only much later that I realized this was quite a feat for a 77-year-old man who was probably wearing some sort of flak jacket under that Cubs jacket. I was even more impressed by Reagan when I saw Bush 41 bounce a first pitch into the catcher a few years later — this despite the fact that 41 had been an excellent ballplayer in college.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming.