Acta will catch Bush's pitch, not Lo Duca

WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush is to throw the Washington Nationals' first pitch of the season to team manager Manny Acta, instead of catcher Paul Lo Duca.

The decision to have Acta catch the ball was possibly made in an effort to avoid an uncomfortable circumstance between Lo Duca and Bush, who condemned the use of steroids in his State of the Union Address in 2004, The Washington Times reported. Lo Duca was surrounded with steroid allegations during the Mitchell Report's probe of Major League Baseball steroid use, released Dec. 13, 2007.

"I'm not catching the first pitch. It has nothing to do with the Mitchell Report," Lo Duca said Wednesday.

Lo Duca was accused of paying $3,200 for steroids while he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Florida Marlins.

Bush's pitch to Acta will be the second out of six ceremonial first Nationals pitches he's thrown to someone other than the team's catcher.