Confrontations between the Nats’ racing presidents and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ racing pierogies tend to attract national media attention, and Friday night was no exception.
At PNC Park, fan favorite Pierogie Potato Pete came out of retirement once again to play a trick on the visiting Teddy Roosevelt.
For a moment, Potato Pete’s surprise appearance looked like it would be a repeat of the famous body slam on Teddy Roosevelt that ESPN Sportscenter anchor Scott Van Pelt called “the greatest highlight I’ve ever seen” in 2009.
But Pete stopped short, pulled out a giant cell phone, and got Teddy to pose for a selfie as Jalapeño Hannah raced by for the win.
The highlight was featured on ESPN’s Sportscenter:
The Nationals racing presidents made an appearance at the ESPN “up fronts” on Tuesday in New York City, joining executives on Broadway’s Minskoff Theater stage for the network’s annual gathering of media buyers.
The annual presentation has evolved over the years into a multimedia show filled with network personalities.
The Disney-owned network unveiled a redesigned set for its flagship SportsCenter show, and revealed that racing president Teddy Roosevelt would soon appear in the show’s iconic TV commercials.
The Nats’ famous mascots then scampered on stage as part of a scripted gag, and posed for photos with attendees.
Teddy’s Sportcenter ad was shot last week at ESPN headquarters, and should appear on the air this summer.
Postseason honors are few and far between for the Washington Nationals this season, but over at MLB.com, you can submit your vote today for two Nationals nominees for the 2009 This Year In Baseball awards.
Ryan Zimmerman’s nomination as 2009 Defensive Player of the Year will come as no surprise to Nationals fans; but the more dubious nomination comes in the “2009 Oddity of the Year” category, where among the choices is the July 31 take-down of Teddy Roosevelt by the Pittsburgh Racing Pierogies at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park.
Teddy was running anchor in a 4-team mascot relay race, when racing pierogie Potato Pete, who had not been participating in the race, entered the field and tackled Teddy to the ground.
On that evening’s ESPN Sportscenter, Scott Van Pelt called the incident “the greatest highlight I’ve ever seen”, and was likely the main reason this blog had it’s highest single traffic day ever: