Nancy Pelosi struck out in an attempt to wish baseball legend Willie Mays a happy birthday. The Democratic House Speaker from California swung and missed on the tribute when she posted a photo of the wrong black baseball icon.
Pelosi’s social media team was caught napping while attempting to wish a happy 90th birthday to all-time great Willie Mays. Instead of posting a photo of Mays, an image of Willie McCovey was shared. McCovey, a baseball superstar in his own right, sadly passed away in 2018 at the age of 80.
“Happy 90th Birthday to an all-American icon, Willie Mays,” Pelosi tweeted on Thursday. “A trailblazing, record-breaking baseball player, civil rights leader, and champion for youth sports and well-being, Willie Mays is a civic legend and national treasure.”
Madam Speaker, that’s not Willie Mays cc @SpeakerPelosi https://t.co/q8PUzkChiR
— Sean Spicer (@Sean Spicer)1620491181.0
Pelosi, who has represented the city of San Francisco for decades, whiffed on the bush league birthday tidings because there was a photo of McCovey instead of the Say Hey Kid. Pelosi’s social media team didn’t catch the error, but keen-eyed baseball fans noticed the faux pas and cried foul. With Pelosi’s social media team caught in a pickle, they quickly tried to clean up the mistake by posting another photo, this time of Willie Mays along with Pelosi.
Pelosi’s office issued a statement on the mix-up of San Francisco Giants greats.
“A staffer inadvertently selected the wrong photo for the tweet,” the statement read. “The photo we wanted to use was of the Speaker and Willie Mays at Willie McCovey’s August 2018 wedding. The quickly deleted photo was the wrong photo from the right wedding. We apologize for the error.”
Both players were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Mays in 1979 and McCovey in 1986.
Mays, who is the oldest living Baseball Hall of Famer, is arguably one of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game.
Thus far, Pelosi has not received nearly as much widespread, and at times harsh condemnation that Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Dan Sullivan received last year when they attempted to honor Rep. John Robert Lewis but accidentally shared a photo of Rep. Elijah Cummings instead.