British and American marching bands struck up God Save the King and the Star-Spangled Banner. Two military jets roared over the stadium – “the sound of freedom”, Americans like to call it. Over the loudspeakers, the match commentator quizzed a spectator about all things British, such as the name of Paddington Bear’s favourite dish. (Yes, marmalade!) Guest of honour Rishi Sunak strode onto the centre of the field – and fluffed his chance to play in the major league by declining to throw the first ceremonial pitch, passing the ball to a British army officer instead.
Thankfully, we’re talking Major League Baseball, not statesmanship. The Washington Nationals were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night and Sunak’s two-day visit to the US just happened to coincide with the second annual US-UK Friendship day at the stadium. Surely our cricket-loving PM would have wanted to display his sporting prowess?
