Mayor: The Best Job in Politics by Michael A. Nutter

Author:Michael A. Nutter [Nutter, Michael A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Political, History, United States, State & Local, Middle Atlantic (DC; DE; MD; NJ; NY; PA), Political Science, General, Public Policy, City Planning & Urban Development, American Government, Local
ISBN: 9780812250022
Google: TLo-DwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0812250028
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 2018-01-03T00:00:00+00:00

In this mayor’s job you get to do some fun things—and you must do some heart-wrenching things. Within the scope of five weeks during my first months as mayor, I experienced both.

March 31, 2008, was the home opening day of baseball, and the Philadelphia Phillies played at Citizens Bank Park. I’ve done a lot of things in my life, but throwing the first pitch that day—the 60 feet and 6 inches from the mound to home plate, on opening day before a packed ball park—was one of the scariest, ever.

Philadelphians love to boo elected officials for no particular reason. But I was brand new, and had run on a wave of reform, and everybody was excited, and nice! The Phillies, through Mike Harris, gave me a jersey with my name on the back, number 08, for the year. I practiced for two weeks throwing a ball. I know how to throw, but this is a little different. I went to the ballpark twice to stand on the mound to get a feel for it, because the mound is elevated and I wanted to throw in a straight line. I didn’t want to throw it in the dirt, and I didn’t want it to go wild. After two weeks of practice, I was nervous as can be when I threw out that first pitch. But I threw a strike—no question about it. Chris Coste caught it, signed the ball, and said it was one of the best first pitches ever—an absolute dead strike.

But this is Philadelphia. What did people notice? Not my perfect strike, but another detail. You can’t imagine how much criticism I got—for having my jersey tucked in. No one noticed my strike right down the center. No one noticed the wind up. No one noticed the pitch. They had no idea that I spent two weeks practicing or that I was so nervous. They did notice that I was a guy with his jersey tucked in. I went to Catholic school, where I always kept my shirt tucked in. I was just trying to be neat. Ball players do it! But they’re ball players.

My advice is this: If you ever happen to be mayor, and you happen to have the opportunity to throw out the first pitch, never tuck your shirt in.

That opening game was a highlight of my first months, and a fun day. Saturday, May 3, 2008, was not. In fact it might well count as the worst single day in my career as mayor. On that day, I had a break between one event and another and happened to stop by my office in city hall. It’s an easy place to get to, park, and jump out. When I arrived at my office I got a call from the police commissioner that a Philadelphia police officer had been shot, and that it was bad. No one had any more details than that. Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski had arrived at the scene of a bank robbery and was met by a person carrying an AK-47.

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