The early presidents never hit a home run, never stole second base, and never threw out a first pitch, but they played the sports of their day.
George Washington excelled at all outdoor activities. His 6-foot-3-inch (190 cm) frame was powerful; his limbs were large, and his chest was barrel-shaped. He thoroughly enjoyed all sports. He ran, swam, wrestled, and pitched quoits (rings tossed at a peg on the ground). He was a magnificent horseback rider. He could throw a stone across the Rappahannock River. He was probably the most athletic and best-built president. Although he could throw, run, jump, and ride better than anyone else in the area, professional sports did not exist for another hundred years—no baseball, basketball, football, tennis, or hockey. Organized sports were unknown, partly because of a lack of leisure time and the lingering Puritan ethic, which viewed sports and games as either frivolous or unwholesome. Washington’s sports included horse racing, fox hunting, and cockfighting, which were common in the South.
Unlike Washington, the adult John Adams disliked sports, even though as a child he rode horses, sailed boats, flew kites, and played marbles, ninepins, bat and ball, football, and quoits. He skated, swam, and went to husking bees. At corn-husking bees, young men would vie to husk the most corn in a certain time.
George never played the New England colonists’ games of cricket, stoolball, and rounders, which were precursors to baseball. In bat and ball, a form of rounders, the batter hit a pitch and advanced to a base. If the ball was hit in the air and caught, the batter was out. If it was hit on the ground, the fielder would catch it and throw it at the runner before he got to base, but there were no basemen. In football, players advanced the ball, but there were no goals, rules, fixed number of people on a side, time limit, winner, or loser.
Thomas Jefferson was an accomplished horseman and swimmer who enjoyed hunting and fishing. James Madison, who loved nature, was a bird watcher. James Monroe liked to fish and hunt. John Quincy Adams was a good rider and installed a billiard table in the White House. He often rose before dawn, walked 5 miles, and swam in the Potomac.
Andrew Jackson held his own in the broad jump, flinging the rail (like a javelin but heavier), racing, broad jumping, throwing a tomahawk (for accuracy rather than distance), and throwing the long bullet (like a shotput but with a sling). But he was too light to be good at wrestling and sports requiring muscle bulk. Although a good shot, he was not a champion shooter like some frontiersmen.
When Lincoln was growing up, the most popular spectator sport was horse racing; the second was foot racing. By the 1840s, races attracted tens of thousands of people. Harness racing was also popular. Lincoln played marbles, pitched the crowbar, tossed the maul, raced, and broad jumped. He possessed astonishing strength. Once, he held up a chicken coop while others fastened it to poles. Lincoln was also a champion wrestler. Along with Washington, he was the strongest president.
Grant enjoyed fishing, swimming, and skating, but is remembered for his great leap at West Point, setting a horse high jump record that lasted for 25 years. After the Civil War, greater prosperity, leisure time, mobility, and communication fostered the development of organized sports. These set the stage for modern-day athletics.
No. George Washington did not play ball. He was born on the wrong side of a century, but if an all-star team of presidents were chosen in just about any sport, Washington would undoubtedly be on it, and probably be the captain. The other George presidents did play, and one of them was exceptionally good.